Dynamism in the 20th-Century Worldview and Linguistic Science

Abstract

The task of any scientific endeavour is to come up with an objective and accurate account of a specific segment of reality. However, this intended accuracy has become quite a challenge in the (post)modern era, especially in humanities. The 20th‑century natural sciences showed that reality itself is much more complex than it had been previously thought, so it is anything but easy to describe. Consequently, their models of reality become, gradually, but surely, inaccessible to non‑scientists. A similar situation can be noticed with respect to human sciences in the early 20^th century, as the new formalist and functional perspectives begin to emerge. Furthermore, the understanding and interpretation of reality in humanities is very much shaped by the worldview that is generated by the latest theories and discoveries in contemporary natural sciences. This conception of physical reality significantly accounts for the way in which the world is imagined and approached by humanists. The aim of this paper is to focus on the relationship between natural and cultural sciences as mediated through this worldview. Specific reference will be made to the theoretical framework that underlies the scientific thought in the early 20^th century–the structural worldview–and to one of the features of contemporary science–the dynamic understanding of reality–, a perspective that developed in natural sciences and also came to be applied in post-Saussurian linguistics. E. Coseriu is one of the language theoreticians who reactivates Wilhelm von Humboldt’s conception of language as a creative process, an interpretation which opposes the traditional “language as a product” approach.