Open AccessOn Coseriu’s legacy
Author(s) -
Esa Itkonen
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
energeia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1869-4233
DOI - 10.55245/energeia.2011.001
Subject(s) - philosophy , physicalism , consciousness , epistemology , darwinism , humanism , affinities , linguistics , theology , metaphysics , chemistry , stereochemistry
This article examines Eugenio Coseriu’s overall theory of language and linguistics, based on his 1974 book Synchronie, Diachronie und Geschichte (originally in Spanish, in 1958). The topics that are singled out for analysis include the role of consciousness and the nature of functional explanation. Coseriu’s ideas are shown to have strong affinities with those of Hermann Paul and William Dwight Whitney. His humanistic conception of linguistics is vindicated vis-à-vis its rivals, i.e. physicalism and Darwinism.