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Chapter III: The Nature of Speech

Speech, specifically its assertive nature, is the key to understanding the origin and development of human consciousness. Speech is not primarily a way of sharing thoughts, but actually generates consciousness. Dewart is challenging the traditional view that speech simply expresses what we already know and feel.

He contrasts a “syntactic” interpretation of speech with the traditional “semantic” view that understands speech as merely a representation of pre-existing thoughts and experiences. He explores the two levels of assertiveness in speech (thematic and non-thematic) and their corresponding levels of consciousness (sensation and understanding). Finally, he examines the continuity between animal communication and human speech, and the implications of this view for understanding the interpretability of reality.

The Problematic Nature of the Traditional Views of Speech

The common view is that speech is just a way of sharing information, like a message sent from one person to another.

This view sees speech as a “mirror” of our inner thoughts and experiences, which are themselves reflections of reality.

This view assumes that speech simply repeats what’s already there.

Modern thinkers like Whorf and McLuhan have suggested that language shapes our thoughts and experiences, but they haven’t gone far enough.

The semantic interpretation views speech as a representation or repetition of pre-existing thoughts and experiences, originating in the mind’s reception of information from reality. In contrast, the syntactic interpretation argues that speech is not merely representative but assertive, actively shaping and generating consciousness through its capacity to organize and interpret reality. According to Dewart, the idea of wordless concepts mediating between experience and speech is both empirically unjustified and unnecessary. He argues that there is no evidence for the existence of such concepts and that the empirically justified alternative is that all thought occurs in the linguistic terms of audible or imagined speech.

The semantic view sees truth as an adequation of the mind to reality. Whereas according to Dewart, the defining element of truth lies in the self-presence of conscious experience and its ability to apprehend its own adequacy or inadequacy to reality. Truth, in this view, is not merely a factual conformity but an experience that furthers the self-presence and development of consciousness. Truth is a quality of consciousness.

The Assertive Nature of Speech

What makes human speech different is that we “mean” what we say. We don’t just make sounds, we make sounds with the intention of communicating something.

This intentionality, or “assertiveness,” is what sets speech apart from animal communication.

When we speak, we’re not just sharing information, we’re making a statement about reality. And what we are sharing with others is actually our experience of reality.

How Speech Creates Consciousness

The ability to speak assertively is closely linked to consciousness.

When we learn to speak, we also can learn to think, which is essentially speaking (inaudibly) to ourselves.

This inner speech allows us to become aware of our experiences and organize them in a way that creates a sense of self.

Consciousness is not something we’re born with, it’s something generated through speech and subsequently through language.

Two Levels of Speech and Consciousness

Dewart proposes that there are two types of speech: “non-thematic” and “thematic.”

Non-thematic speech is simple and direct, like a warning shout. It refers to things in the immediate situation.

Thematic speech is more complex and abstract. It allows us to talk about things that aren’t present and to create narratives that make sense of our experiences.

These two types of speech correspond to two levels of consciousness: immediate sensation and understanding.

Non-thematic speech asserts an experience directly, with the context provided by the immediate reality. It corresponds to the level of conscious sensation, the immediate awareness of sensible objects. Thematic speech, on the other hand, involves asserting a thesis in relation to a theme, abstracting the experience from its immediate context and organizing it conceptually. This corresponds to the level of understanding, where experience is interpreted and made meaningful through narratives and propositions.

The “self” emerges as a consequence of the narrative capability of thematic speech. By organizing experiences into meaningful narratives, thematic speech allows the individual to situate themselves within a conceptually organized world and derive their own meaning from their self-perception as part of that world. The “I” becomes the narrator of the narrative, creating a sense of self-identity. It is thus imperative to understand the role of culture and social interaction in the development of the self.

From Animal Communication to Speech

Communication exists in many forms, from the simple interactions of physical objects to the complex signals of animals.

Animal communication is based on instinct and natural selection. Animals don’t “mean” what they communicate.

Human speech evolved from animal communication, but it represents a major leap forward in terms of intentionality and complexity.

The Interpretative Nature of Speech and Consciousness

Both sensation and understanding are “interpretative,” meaning they don’t passively reflect reality, but actively organize it.

We learn to interpret reality through speech, by learning to use words to categorize and relate our experiences.

Thematic speech allows us to create complex narratives that give meaning to our lives and define ourselves.

The Interpretability of Reality

Reality itself is not inherently meaningful. It’s just a collection of facts.

We make reality meaningful by interpreting it through speech and consciousness.

The categories we use to understand reality and the categories “causality” and “reality” are derived from our own conscious experience.

Truth is not about mirroring reality, but about creating experiences that allow consciousness to grow and develop. Truth according to Dewart is a quality of conscious experience.

The author argues that reality is not inherently meaningful or intelligible in itself. Instead, it is interpretable only in the sense that it lends itself to interpretation by the conscious mind through the use of speech. The human mind, through its assertive and conceptualizing capacity, transposes reality into its own realm, making it meaningful and intelligible.

Speech is not a tool for communication. It is the very foundation of human consciousness and understanding. It is through speech that we create meaning, define ourselves, and make sense of the world around us.

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`Chapter II`⁠

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`Chapter IV`⁠
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