Characteristica universalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Description

"Universal characteristic" redirects here. For the concept of the "three universal characteristics" in Buddhism, see Three marks of existence .

Inseparable from encyclopedia

We have seen that the characteristic was inseparable in Leibniz's mind from the encyclopedia. The former presupposed the latter, or at least had to be established at the same time and developed in parallel with it. Conversely, once established, the characteristic would be the instrument of the encyclopedia and the key to all the sciences

— Louis Couturat , The Logic of Leibniz in accordance with unpublished documents, Chpt 5: The Encyclopedia, §1 Translated by Donald Rutherford and R. Timothy Monroe, copyright (c) 1997–2002, all rights reserved.

A common scientific language

All who are occupied with the reading or writing of scientific literature have assuredly very often felt the want of a common scientific language, and regretted the great loss of time and trouble caused by the multiplicity of languages employed in scientific literature

— Leopold Pfaundler von Hadermur in Louis Couturat et al.: International Language and Science: Considerations on the Introduction of an International Language into Science. 1910.

A universal language of science

[ edit ] Metaphysics

[ edit ] Science

"And although learned men have long since thought of some kind of language or universal characteristic by which all concepts and things can be put into beautiful order, and with whose help different nations might communicate their thoughts and each read in his own language what another has written in his, yet no one has attempted a language or characteristic which includes at once both the arts of discovery and judgement, that is, one whose signs and characters serve the same purpose that arithmetical signs serve for numbers, and algebraic signs for quantities taken abstractly. Yet it does seem that since God has bestowed these two sciences on mankind, he ...

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