The Analytical Language of John Wilkins

This article is about the essay by Jorge Luis Borges. For John Wilkins's magnum opus, see An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language.
"The Analytical Language of John Wilkins"
Short story by Jorge Luis Borges
First edition of Otras Inquisiciones (1937-1952), published by Sur (Buenos Aires) in 1952
Original titleEl idioma analitico de John Wilkins
Genre(s)Criticism
Publication
Published inOtras Inquisiciones (1937-1952)
Publication typeAnthology
PublisherSur
Publication date1942
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"The Analytical Language of John Wilkins" (Spanish: "El idioma analítico de John Wilkins") is a short essay by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, first printed in La Nación on 8 February 1942[1][2] and subsequently published in Otras Inquisiciones (1937–1952).[3][4] It is a critique of the English natural philosopher and writer John Wilkins's proposal for a universal language and of the representational capacity of language generally. In it, Borges imagines a bizarre and whimsical fictional Chinese taxonomy later quoted by Michel Foucault, David Byrne, and others.[5][6]

  1. ^ "1942 | Borges Center". www.borges.pitt.edu. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Title: El idioma analítico de John Wilkins". www.isfdb.org. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  3. ^ Borges, Jorge Luis (1952). Otras Inquisiciones (1937–1952). Buenos Aires, Argentina: Sur.
  4. ^ Borges, Jorge Luis (1964). Other Inquisitions (1937–1952). Translated by Ruth L. C. Simms. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference pic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Merrell, Floyd (1991). Unthinking thinking: Jorge Luis Borges, mathematics, and the new physics. West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press. p. xiii. ISBN 1557530114. Retrieved 24 September 2014.