A Treatise on Language: or the Relation which Words Bear to Things, in Four Parts. [The Philosophy of Human Knowledge]

xxxvi, [34]-273, 32 pp. 8vo. A significantly expanded edition of the work first published in 1828 as The Philosophy of Human Knowledge; or, A Treatise on Language. David Rynin called this 'the most important early American work on semantics, and sees Johnson's thought echoed in Wittgenstein's positions on truth, questions, and the functionality of language. A significant and influential precursor to logical positivism. Included are a preface by the author, an introductory lecture, and the four parts referenced in the title: Of Language with Reference to Existences which are External of Man; Of Language with Reference to Phenomena Internal of Man; Of Language with Reference to the Relation which Words Bear to Each Other; Of Language with Reference to Some of the Uses to which We Apply It.