A Brief History of the Verb To Be

A journey through linguistic time and space, from Aristotle through the twentieth century’s “era of syntax,” in search of a dangerous verb and its significance.

Beginning with the early works of Aristotle, the interpretation of the verb “to be” runs through Western linguistic thought like Ariadne’s thread. As it unravels, it becomes intertwined with philosophy, metaphysics, logic, and even with mathematics—so much so that Bertrand Russell showed no hesitation in proclaiming that the v…