From Cognitive to Integral Linguistics and Back Again

Starting from emphasizing the richness of human experience, over twenty years ago, Cognitive Linguistics currently oscillates between a positivist and a subjectivist perspective both of which reveal an ontologically and methodologically limited understanding of language. I propose that E. Coseriu’s Integral Linguistics can substantially broaden this understanding, in distinguishing between three levels and three points of view, or perspectives, on linguistic (and cognitive) reality. Coseriu’s “matrix” of levels and perspectives is discussed, offering an interpretation along phenomenological lines. A key point is the emphasis on consciousness rather than “the cognitive unconscious”. Finally, I outline how the distinctions made within Integral Linguistics can help resolve debates within Cognitive Linguistics concerning the nature of “image schemas” and “conceptual metaphor”.