Preproceedings 2006 - Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society

3.4 Learning a Foreign Language and Understanding a
Foreign Identity
On the basis of the analogy between identity change and
language change one could develop another point of
analogy. According to a popular version of cultural
relativism, understanding a different identity or culture is
impossible since the cultures are incommensurable. I
suggest the comparison with the possibility of learning a
second language as a model through which we can
consider this question. Learning a second language is
inherently difficult but it is not impossible. My suggestion is
that the motivation and effort required for extending our
cultural horizons is similar to the one required for
extending the familiar grammatical structures of our
primary language. Since such structures have a normative
aspect, learning a second language may provide a
concrete model of what Gadamar calls a “fusion of
horizons”.
References
Taylor Charles, Sources of the Self, Harvard University Press,
1989.
Taylor Charles, The Ethics of Authenticity, Harvard University
Press, 1991.
Taylor Charles, “Examining the Politics of Recognition”, in: Amy
Gutmann (ed.) Multiculturalism Princeton University Press, 1994.
Wittgenstein Ludwig, Philosophical Investigations, Basil Blackwell,
1958.
On Language and Identity - Ohad Nachtomy
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