Neoteny and "Child" : the price for acquirement of language

DOI HANDLE Web Site Open Access
  • Tsuchido Toshihiko
    Department of Education, Faculty of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • ネオテニー仮説と<子ども>性 : 言語獲得の代償
  • ネオテニー仮説と〈子ども〉性--言語獲得の代償
  • ネオテニー カセツ ト コドモ セイ ゲンゴ カクトク ノ ダイショウ

Search this article

Abstract

Neoteny means that the features of larva or fetus are still conserved into imago. Homo is also neotenous, though the neoteny in behavior is remarkable here. The neoteny of Homo is concerned with the "Child" in Man, which should mean a kind of disposition of purposelessness, fantasy, unusualness, uncalculativeness etc. in e.g. play. For Man the relation to environment is not fixed and the future is radically suspended. Even though grown into adult, therefore, Man has too much curiosity and often acts without purpose and necessity. Thus "Child" has remained there into the adult. On the other hand "Adult" appears already in childhood because the arbitrariness of language provides foundation of "self-evidence" as the property of "Adult". Man has become neotenous creature for the acquirement of language. But a question remains; How are the neoteny of Man and his self-consciousness coincident with each other? Or rather, how can the biological explanation and the philosophical question encounter?

Journal

Keywords

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top