Abstract
Whereas the biologist, J. B. S. Haldane, could say that the mind of the Creator showed ‘an inordinate fondness for beetles’, a social scientist might say that it showed an inordinate fondness for languages.1 There may have been 10,000–15,000 languages in prehistoric times, although today there are commonly said to be 6,000 or 6,500 and the number is decreasing fast. Linguists’ interest in language for its own sake leads them to deplore this decline and recommend preserving the most minor remaining languages. Moreover some governments support national languages, at times by discriminating explicitly against others. It will be urged here that these Protectionist efforts are undesirable. The likely benefits of the world adopting a lingua franca outweigh the likely costs.
This essay was conceived at the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin. I have benefited, there and elsewhere, from listening to Kate Burridge, Beth Cromp-ton, David Crystal, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Marc Fumaroli, John Gatt-Rutter, David Henderson, Aneurin Hughes, Sylvia Jones, Reinhart Meyer-Kalkus and Ekkehart Schlicht, although much more than the usual disclaimer applies.
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Jones, E.L. (2000). The Case for a Shared World Language. In: Casson, M., Godley, A. (eds) Cultural Factors in Economic Growth. Studies in Economic Ethics and Philosophy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57223-4_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57223-4_9
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