Hermann Lotze´s philosophy of language and its influence on Frege

Hermann Lotze´s philosophy of language and its influence on Frege

Gottfried Gabriel

The essay examines Lotze´s conception of language and its influence on Frege. The classical views of Johann Gottfried Herder and Wilhelm von Humboldt, which assume a close connection between thought and language, are taken as a basis for comparison. According to them, language and thought are two sides of the same coin. Although Lotze analyzes thinking from the point of view of language, he also points out possible deceptions caused by language. Lotze sees such a danger in particular in the use of the definite article in the singular, which could lead to metaphysical hypostatization. Frege follows Lotze in his efforts to break the dominance of language over thought, but with the conception of numbers as logical objects, he commits a hypostasis that Lotze warned against.