Power, language, and desire

Samuel IJsseling

pp. 335-353

in: Babette Babich (ed), From phenomenology to thought, errancy, and desire, Berlin, Springer, 1995

Abstract

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in Chapter Ten of his Essay on the Origin of Languages, writes that the first words that human beings would have spoken must have been something like "aimez moi" (love me). This holds true at least, according to Rousseau, for the southern lands (langues méridionales) with their comfortable, favorable climates, where the vital necessities of life can be satisfied without much difficulty. In the northern lands (langues du nord), char­acterized by harsh and severe living conditions in which human beings run the ever-present danger of perishing (le continuel danger de périr), the first words must have been not "aimez moi" but rather "aidez moi" (help me).

Cited authors

Rousseau Jean-Jacques