Bruti o comunicatori? Modelli della mente e del linguaggio animale fra Cinque e Seicento

This essay proposed an overview of the way the traditional topos of 'animal loquens' was rediscussed in the Early Modernity. It is argued that the kind of communication means to be ascribed to animals (be it a merely instinctual activity or rather a genuine language, grounded on species-specific psychological powers) became a central point of the philosophical discussion. The ideas on this topic of thinkers such as Montaigne, Fabrici of Acquapendente, Gassendi, the anonymous author of the 'Theophrastus redivivus' (1659?) are sketched and elaborated from a philosophical point of view.