Résumé de section

    • William William Godwin on the Advantages of the Multilingual Mind Fichier

      By Maria Popova, www.brainpickings.org

      How the ability to call your idea “by various names, borrowed from various

      languages,” empowers you to conceive that idea “in a way precise, clear and

      unconfused.”

      Nothing furthers the reach of thought in language more surely than proficiency in multiple lexicons, which confers upon the bilingual or multilingual mind a lush advantage of thought. That is what the radical philosopher William Godwin (March3, 1756–April 7, 1836) explores in a passage from his altogether excellent 1797 book The Enquirer: Reflections on Education, Manners, and Literature (public library) —