"Course of Study for the Education of the Prince of Parma Prepared for the Instruction of His Royal Highness Prince Ferdinand, Duke of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla"

Description:

Published in Parma in 1775 by the Royal Printing House, this first volume of Abbé Étienne Bonnot de Condillac's Course of Study for the Education of the Prince of Parma is one of the Enlightenment's most influential works on language, philosophy, and education. Written specifically to educate the young Duke Ferdinand of Parma, Condillac presents grammar not merely as a study of language but as a method for understanding human thought itself. Rather than relying on memorization or rigid grammatical rules, he develops a logical system showing how language, reasoning, and knowledge emerge from observation and analysis. Printed during the height of the European Enlightenment, this royal educational edition represents an important milestone in the history of linguistics, philosophy, and pedagogy. Original eighteenth-century copies are highly desirable among collectors of philosophy, educational history, and early scientific thought.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

·         Purpose of the Work

·         Why Language Must Be Studied Through the Analysis of Thought

·         Structure and Method of the Grammar

Part I – Analysis of Language

·         Chapter 1 – The Language of Action

·         Chapter 2 – Formation and Development of Languages

·         Chapter 3 – The Art of Analyzing Thought

·         Chapter 4 – Artificial Signs and Their Role in Reasoning

·         Chapter 5 – Methods for Creating Clear and Distinct Ideas

·         Chapter 6 – Languages as Analytical Systems

·         Chapter 7 – How Action and Language Analyze Thought

·         Chapter 8 – The Early Development of Language

·         Chapter 9 – Analysis in Mature Languages

·         Chapter 10 – Structure of Sentences and Propositions

·         Chapter 11 – Analysis of the Proposition

·         Chapter 12 – Analysis of the Elements of the Proposition

·         Chapter 13 – Continued Analysis of the Verb

Part II – Grammar

·         Chapter 1 – Nouns

·         Chapter 2 – Adjectives

·         Chapter 3 – Singular and Plural Forms

·         Chapter 4 – Grammatical Gender

·         Chapter 5 – Agreement of Adjectives

·         Chapter 6 – Verbs

·         Chapter 7 – Personal Pronouns

·         Chapter 8 – Verb Tenses

·         Chapter 9 – Verb Moods

·         Chapter 10 – Conjugations

·         Chapter 11 – Compound Verb Forms Using Auxiliary Verbs

Summary:

In this landmark educational work, Enlightenment philosopher Abbé Étienne Bonnot de Condillac argues that language is fundamentally a tool for organizing and analyzing human thought. Beginning with the origins of communication through gestures and simple signs, he traces the gradual development of spoken language into increasingly sophisticated systems capable of expressing complex ideas. Condillac demonstrates that grammar is not merely a collection of linguistic rules but the logical structure underlying reasoning itself. He carefully explains the formation of sentences, propositions, nouns, adjectives, verbs, pronouns, tense, mood, and conjugation while emphasizing that every grammatical element reflects a corresponding mental process. Designed to educate a future ruler, the work combines philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and pedagogy into a coherent system of rational education, making it one of the most important eighteenth-century treatises on language and human cognition.

Size: 7.5" x 5" x 1.3"

Pages: 360

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