Studies On Bentham’s Thought Of Universal Grammar

Bentham is famous for his "utilitarianism" in the world.The research of such a great philosopher is mostly based on the direction of ethics and law.Bentham wrote many works all his life,most of which are used to clarify his thoughts on morality and law.In addition,there are some other philosophical researches on logic and language.This paper discusses Bentham’s universal grammar theory from his several articles on language research.Bentham’s theory of universal grammar takes English grammar as the basic framework,constructing the logical system of universal grammar from the two perspectives of parts of speech and inflectional changes of words,and explores the commonness of grammatical system,aiming at giving people excellent language ability by using universal grammar,so as to increase people’s greatest happiness.Bentham’s method can be referred to as the “Method of Detail”,which divides the whole into parts,dissolves the abstract into concrete,distinguishes the categories and generalizations from the individuals which make up them,and decomposes each problem into fragments before trying to solve the problem.Bentham used this method to analyze the meaning and difference of various parts of speech in his universal grammar.This is not only a linguistic study,but also Bentham’s philosophy of language,because it contains the thought of utilitarianism,empiricism,materialism and pragmatism.The interpretation of Bentham’s universal grammar theory cannot be only limited to the field of linguistics,while we must take a serious look his philosophy throughout his life.Bentham is a person who pursues the ultimate universality.Whether it is utilitarianism in moral ethics or general law in the standard grammar of legal system,Bentham shows his desire to find the universal law of the existence.Similarly,in the study of language,he also expressed the same appeal,hoping to establish the principle of universality in language through universal grammar.In short,the significance of Bentham’s universal grammar theory is reflected in all aspects.