Abstract
The debate between Husserl and Marty focuses on the notion of general
grammar. Nevertheless, there doesn’t seem to have been a clear outcome, and
the terms of the debate remain quite unclear. Moreover, while both authors make
striking use of historical references, their entanglement seems to call for some
clarification.
This paper aims to shed light on this debate, by considering it from an historical
perspective. In doing so, two putative candidates will be introduced as
(conceptual) precursors of the ‘allgemeine Grammatik’: the Grammaire générale
et raisonnée of Port-Royal (1660), and the medieval grammatica speculativa,
which included a group of late thirteenth- and early fourteenth-century philosophers
of language known as the Modistae.
I will first identify Husserl’s and Marty’s respective critiques, distinguishing,
between Husserl’s critique of the conflation of the a priori and empirical, and
Marty’s of the conflation of meaning and forms of expression. Second, I will
place these critiques in an arrangement involving two types of cross-reference:
on the one hand, Marty and Husserl can be seen as standing in opposition to
their historical predecessors; on the other hand (and more significantly),
Marty and Port-Royal can be seen as standing in opposition to Husserl and
the speculative grammarians.