Abstract » Láng
Budapest 2010
Encyclopaedism, Pansophia, and Universal Communication, 1560–1670
Benedek LÁNG
Cryptology as a Means of Universal Communication
One could argue that the goal of early modern enciphering methods (that is, of cryptology) is the exact opposite of those of the perfect language schemes which were so important for the pansophia projects of the era. Ciphers try to hide messages while perfect languages wish to show the real structure of the world or, at least, to be practical systems. Ciphers try to make a given text unreadable for even those who speak the same language, while perfect languages are supposed to be composed of very recognisable elements and have an obvious logical structure even for those who do not speak the given language. In other words, an enciphered text is not supposed to be easily decipherable, while a text written in a perfect language should be easily understood. However, both kinds of projects belong to the same meta-project of artificial language inventions, both are supra-national and universal methods, and it is not always easy to decide whether a text written in an artificial language that survived without its key is an example of a perfect language system, or a result of an enciphering method. This paper will argue that the two seemingly different projects have a great deal in common.
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