Jacobi on Language. A Physiognomic Approach

Language is a key topic in Jacobi’s philosophy, yet its nature and function are introduced in his texts in sharply diverging if not contrasting ways. Language seems to be both the main instrument for abstraction and intellectual construction, and the ground of an immediate grasp of reality. This paper focuses on this ambiguity by investigating how language both separates and connects spirit and letter, meanings and signs. It is argued that the duplicity and dynamism of language can be aptly accounted for with reference to physiognomy. Jacobi’s uninterrupted dialogue with the authors animating the debate on physiognomy (Lavater, Herder, Lichtenberg), and especially the idea of a natural gestural language, are shown to be crucial components of Jacobi’s philosophy of language.