The first volume of the ›Ideology‹, which was a term coined by Destutt de Tracy based on an analysis of the tradition ranging from Locke to Condillac as well as Kant, was published in 1801. This is a naturalistic epistemology, theory of language and a theory of semiotics based on the physiology of the human organs and the physics of movement in the body. By 1815, de Tracy had added three further volumes to his work: works on ›Grammar‹ and ›Logic‹ as well as his social theory. His 'Eléments d’idéologie,' presented here in a German translation for the first time, contain the key phrase: »Thinking is always feeling, nothing but feeling.« Denounced by Napoleon as political »ideology,« it continues to be worthwhile reading today as an interesting alternative to German idealism and its epistemological theories.
