 The Treatise on the Origin is primarily concerned with the question whether the origin of language can be explained in purely natural, human terms or (as Süßmilch had recently argued) only in terms of a divine source. Herder argues in support of the former position and against the latter. His argument is quite persuasive (especially when supplemented on its positive side from the Fragments). But this will probably not constitute a modern philosopher’s main reason for interest in Herder’s views about language – deriving its zest, as it does, from a religious background that is no longer ours, and being an argument that Herder long ago essentially won.