Langue, Parole, et Chanson: On Language as Song in Psychoanalysis and Jewish Philosophy

The view that language is a key to understanding many of the most significant dimensions of human relationships is shared by some post-Freudian psychoanalysts (including Hans Loewald, Stephen Mitchell, and Thomas Ogden) as well as three Jewish philosophers of encounter (Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, and Emmanuel Levinas). They can be seen to suggest that Ferdinand de Saussure’s famous discussion of language as langue and parole, that is, as system and performance, fails to capture its sensory, affective, formative, dialogical, ethical, and even metaphysical features. A dialogue between the psychoanalysts and the Jewish philosophers brings to the fore their common insights and distinctive observations, as well as areas of possible cross-fertilization.