This class today is about language.

今天我们要讲的是语言
And language is, to a large extent, where the action is.

很大程度上来说语言就是行为
The study of human language

人类语言的研究
has been the battleground over different theories of human nature.

是各种人性理论的重要领域
So, every philosopher or psychologist

因此无论是哲学家心理学家
or humanist or neuroscientist

人类学家还是神经系统学家
who has ever thought about people

只要他们曾经研究过人类
has had to make some claim about the nature of language and how it works.

便会就语言的特性及其功能提出某些理论
I'm including here people like

我所说的这些学者包括了
Aristotle and Plato, Hume,

亚里士多德柏拉图休莫