Question

English philosopher John Wilkins wrote a book outlining a universal language, and included in it was an outline of a noun classification system for classifying all objects (both physical and abstract) in the universe. Has any Thomist attempted something like this?

Answer 1

No direct evidence suggests that a Thomist has created a universal language classification system like John Wilkins's proposal.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question inquires whether any Thomist has attempted to create a universal language classification system similar to the one proposed by English philosopher John Wilkins. Historically, the ideas around categorizing knowledge and language, as discussed by philosophers, draw from logic and the structuring of natural language into mathematical or symbolic notation. German philosopher Gottlob Frege's work on formalizing natural language into logical functions and symbolic language laid the foundation for modern logic.

However, no direct reference is made to a Thomist - followers of Saint Thomas Aquinas's philosophical methods, having constructed a classification system identical to that of John Wilkins. Aristotle, referenced as an early influence in philosophy, and early structuralists pointed to mathematics as a foundation for such systematic classifications. Wittgenstein also discussed the continuity of language but concluded that language's interpretation is context-dependent. Philosophical attempts at systematic knowledge classification have been influenced by logic and mathematics as per Frege and Aristotle, yet Wittgenstein emphasized language's context-dependency.

In conclusion, while philosophical endeavors to categorize knowledge exist, there is no explicit evidence of a Thomist creating a universal language classification system exactly like that of John Wilkins.