Linguaggio degli uomini e linguaggio degli animali nell’antichità classica

The topic of the relationship between humans and animals was widely discussed in the philosophical texts of antiquity, starting from the fourth century B.C. up to at least the third century A.D.. The topic presented itself either in theoretical and in ethical terms. In the first case the cognitive abilities of humans and animals, along with their forms of language were compared, both to clarify the characteristics of human language, and to define the respective positions within the hierarchy of living beings. In the second case, typical of post-Aristotelian schools, the comparison took on an ethical value: have humans the right to freely use animals for their purposes? In this framework a number of important issues came to the fore. Genuinely scientific attitudes went hand in hand with others, mainly ideological in kind, including vegetarianism. The theoretical couple λόγος ἐνδιάθετος and λόγος προφορικός played a fundamental role in the discussion.