Gianmaria Ortes filosofo del linguaggio. Da Venezia all'Europa

This paper proposes a reading of Ortes' Riflessioni sugli oggetti apprensibili, sui costumi e sulle cognizioni umane, per rapporto alle lingue (Venezia 1775), a fascinating, but almost forgotten book on topics of general philosophical-linguistic interest. Language variation, importance and limits of translations, the role of speaking communities both in the formation and development of language are themes that Ortes dealt with in an original way, if compared to current issues in the Enlightenment linguistics. Although Ortes wasn't used to quote from his sources, it is suggestes that he might have been influenced from Leibniz, whose ideas enjoyed a wide renown both in Venise and Padova during the last decades of the XVIIIth century.