The Laboratory for the History of Linguistic Ideas at the Department of Philosophy was conceived as a space for the development and dissemination of research on the history of linguistic theories and ideas, with the aim of fostering dialogue among various disciplines and areas of expertise, especially those of philosophers, historians and philosophers of science, and linguists.
The laboratory draws on major cultural traditions and the legacy of prominent figures from the Roman school who carried out much of their work within the Department of Philosophy at Sapienza. It continues a line of inquiry in the philosophy of language dating back to Antonino Pagliaro and developed further by Tullio De Mauro, Lia Formigari, and for many years by Donatella Di Cesare. This tradition has intertwined theoretical and philosophical reflection on language with the history of linguistic theories and with philological attention to texts (philologeîn and philosopheîn), asserting the epistemological value of a philosophy of linguistics grounded in the history of theories.
This tradition remains very much alive today, as shown not only by the work of the directors Stefano Gensini and Marina De Palo, but also by the research of young and emerging scholars, postdoctoral fellows, grant recipients, PhDs, and doctoral candidates, who find in our Department and in the courses on Philosophy of Language a cultural, scientific, and academic point of reference. The same vitality is reflected in the strong participation of students in these subjects.
Recently, the Italian Societies of Philosophy of Language, Linguistics, Glottology, and the Association for Semiotic Studies have decided to establish a joint working group on linguistic historiography, to which our Laboratory intends to offer valuable institutional support. The project promoted by these societies and the one at the core of the Laboratory both stem from a shared recognition of the limited space currently given to this type of research in Italy, a country nonetheless rich in historical scholarship.