Philosophical and Cognitive Existence of Linguistic Subjectivity and Its Realisation Paths from the Perspective of Integrating Embodied Philosophy and Cognition

INTRODUCTION

Objectivism has rejected subjectivity for a long time. Influenced by objectivism, philosophers focus on how to make their research increasingly objective, avoid subjective colours as much as possible, and separate language from subjective factors such as thoughts and emotions (Huang 2016: 7). Language is the sum of propositions (Wittgenstein 2019: 1). Philosophers and linguists mainly emphasise the objective or propositional meaning of language. These thinking paradigms have ignored the role of humans in the meaning construction, and also the non-objective meaning of language. Moreover, Descartes’ mind–body dualism separates cognition from human experience, thus making the study of language divorced from humans’ real-life experience.

With the rise of non-objectivism and resurgence of humanism, scholars have noticed that language is no longer an objective proposition separated from human and experience. Language is the medium of extended cognition, and human consciousness can interact with the external environment using language as an interface (Cui 2021: 40). Being in the world is the structure of human beings in the world and meaning formation (Heidegger 2006: 63). A word can trigger a denoted name given to an object and a resulting mental image (Gadamer 2004: 62). Thus, humans and the world are interrelated with each other, and meaning cannot be without humans and their experience in the world. Linguistic subjectivity (LS) is the basis of existence of speakers as subjects, and is the attribute of speakers as subjects in language.

On the basis of this argument, researchers have extensively investigated linguistic subjectivity (LS) from the perspectives of semantics, pragmatics, philosophy and cognitive linguistics (Foucault 1982; Kant 2004; Husserl 2012; Christensen 2020; Kulikov 2021; Peng 2021). However, most scholars only explored linguistic subjectivity (LS) from a single perspective and failed to understand deeply the cognitive nature of linguistic subjectivity (LS). Therefore, how to tap the philosophical attribute, cognitive characteristics and cognitive existence of the phenomenon of linguistic subjectivity (LS) are significant.

By integrating embodied philosophy and cognitive linguistics, a model of integrating embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity (IEPCLS) was constructed, and a  philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS) was proposed, aiming to explore the philosophical attribute and cognitive nature of linguistic subjectivity (LS), discover the speaker’s subjective factors hidden behind language, dig the existence of speakers as subjects of consciousness and embodied experience, and understand the communicative function of language.

STATE OF THE ART

Scholars have conducted considerable work about linguistic subjectivity (LS) from the perspectives of philosophy, semantics, pragmatics and cognitive linguistics, including the definition, representations and markers of linguistic subjectivity (LS). According to Foucault, subjectivity is to subject someone else by control or dependence, and also bound by one’s own identity by a conscience of self-knowledge (Foucault 1982: 781). But little attention was paid to the relationship among self-knowledge, experience, cognition and meaning. According to Kant, the objective validity of the category as a priori concept lies in the fact that it is only through them that experience is possible (Kant 2004: 85). But Kant paid little attention to the function of experience to understand the world. Husserl noticed that all beings are constituted in the subject of man’s consciousness (Husserl 2012: 198). However, Husserl did not mention the importance of man’s consciousness in constructing meaning. According to Kleijn, Mak and Sanders, subjectivity is the degree to which the speaker is responsible for connecting the two propositions (Kleijn et al. 2021: 37), but they ignored the relationship between the speaker and the external world.

Scholars have explored the representations of linguistic subjectivity (LS) from different perspectives. Frost analysed the challenges that epigenetic processes pose for understanding embodied subjectivity (Frost 2020: 3). However, Frost mainly focused on the philosophical perspective. Lu and Liu explored that the subjective tendency is closely related to the context (Lu, Liu 2021: 145). However, they ignored the communicator’s world experience. Chen stated that subjectivity is often analysed from subjective perspective, cognition and emotion (Chen 2021: 136), but he paid scant attention to the speaker’s embodiment of objective reality. Schore discussed the relationship between the affect-communicating functions of the inter-subjective motivational system and the affect-regulating functions of the attachment motivational system (Schore 2021: 2). However, Schore ignored the attribute of speakers as subjects in language.

Scholars also explored the markers of linguistic subjectivity (LS). Tosi explored that subjectivity marks can be reflected by forms of inclusive language (Tosi 2021: 13). Ilaria, Ramona and Andrzej explained three categories of subjectivity markers: I/we epistemic verbs, I/we modal verbs and epistemic non-verbs conveying personal opinions (Ilaria et al. 2021: 739). Under the theoretical framework of Cognitive Construal Theory, Jia studied the subjectivity of ba (吧 in Chinese character) sentence, passive sentence and lian (连 in Chinese character) sentence (Jia 2021: 11–76). Li explored the semantic construal of ‘chadianr mei (差点儿没 in Chinese characters) VP’ by using Argumentative Theory and intersubjectivity (Li 2021: 73). Kou and Yuan explored various subjective meaning of gei (给 in Chinese character) VP construction (Kou, Yuan 2018: 35). However, these works were merely case studies on linguistic subjectivity (LS) at lexical and syntactic levels.

The above studies mainly discussed the definition, representations and markers of LS, but the existing studies have shortcomings. Current explorations on linguistic subjectivity (LS) were mainly from the single perspective of philosophy, semantics, pragmatics, or cognitive linguistics, and they fail to interpret the phenomenon of linguistic subjectivity (LS) thoroughly. The philosophical attribute of linguistic subjectivity (LS) receives little attention. The cognitive study of linguistic subjectivity (LS) was not sufficiently in-depth, and a comprehensive analytical framework for linguistic subjectivity (LS) has not been proposed. Although LS is universal in language, the existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS) has not been investigated. Scholars mainly discussed markers of linguistic subjectivity (LS) at the specific lexical and syntactic levels, but not at the discourse level.

Therefore, the current study constructs a model of integrating embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity (IEPCLS) and discusses the cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS). The study also proposes a philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS) and illustrates the concrete realisation paths of cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS) by taking discourse constructions as examples. The study aims to dig the philosophical attribute and cognitive natures of linguistic subjectivity (LS) by integrating embodied philosophy and cognition in order to understand better the speaker’s communicative purpose, subjective factors encoded in discourse, and to promote communication among language users.

The remainder of this study is organised as follows. Section 3 constructs a model of integrating embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity. Section 4 explores the philosophical and cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS). Section 5 proposes a philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS) and digs the specific realisation paths of the philosophical and cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS) by using the examples of discourse constructions. Section 6 summarises the whole study and provides related conclusions.

THE MODEL OF INTEGRATING EMBODIED PHILOSOPHY AND COGNITION OF LINGUISTIC SUBJECTIVITY

A model of integrating embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity (IEPCLS) is constructed to explore the cognitive nature of linguistic subjectivity (LS) (Fig. 1).

Experience is the result of our experiential cognitive movements and cognitive structures generating meaning in our constant interaction with the changing contexts or environment (Wang 2007: 37). Language forms are pragmatically driven and can be traced back to people’s cognitive norms based on their experience of the world (Wu 2016: 213). A living organism interacts with its external environment through its senses (Gu 2019: 53). So based on the model, four characteristics of linguistic subjectivity (LS) are found on the basis of the model. First, linguistic subjectivity (LS) is the home of speaker’s existence as subjects of experience and is also the reflection of the attribute of speakers as subjects of consciousness and embodied experience. Second, linguistic subjectivity (LS) possesses the characteristics of the speaker’s embodiment of the social communication context (SCC), including objective world or other interactants. Third, linguistic subjectivity (LS) has the characteristics of the speaker’s self-centrality, always converging toward the speaker, as the speaker is the subject of meaning construction. Fourth, linguistic subjectivity (LS) has the characteristics of the speaker’s interactive perception of the social communication context (SCC), and the interactive perception can be the speaker’s encoded meaning, decoded meaning, viewpoint, perspective, attitude, emotion, and the perception of the social communication context (SCC). These four characteristics of linguistic subjectivity (LS) can be realised through three paths: the speaker’s self-expressions, the speaker’s meaning assignment to social communication context (SCC) and the speaker’s meaning interpretation of social communication context (SCC).

PHILOSOPHICAL AND COGNITIVE EXISTENCE OF LINGUISTIC SUBJECTIVITY

According to the model of integrating embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity (IEPCLS) and from a holistic view, linguistic subjectivity (LS) exists in the speaker’s real experience of the world, the speaker’s self-consciousness, self-cognition, self-concept, or the speaker’s subjective inner world, as well as the speaker’s interaction and perception of the outer social communication context (SCC).

Linguistic subjectivity (LS) reflects the attribute of speakers as subjects in language and the mental consciousness of speakers thinking with concepts. Knowledge, meaning, concept, reasoning and other cognitive activities completely depend on the body experience. Linguistic subjectivity (LS) also reflects the speaker’s embodied experience and cognition of social communication context (SCC) and culture, including the speaker’s stance, opinions and feelings toward other cognitive subjects and events. Much is known about how object perception impacts action performance, but less is known about how action performance affects object perception (Costantini et al. 2019: 1805). Therefore, exploring how speakers’ interaction with social communication context (SCC) affects their experience and perception is important. As linguistic meaning enters a specific social communication context (SCC), it will demonstrate a subjective tendency of the communicative intentions, emotions and attitudes of speakers as subjects of consciousness and subjects of experience.

The following section takes discourse constructions (Ostman 2005: 121), the combination of feature, form and function, as examples to explore the concrete realisation paths of the philosophical and cognitive existence of LS.

REALISATION PATHS OF PHILOSOPHICAL AND COGNITIVE EXISTENCE OF LINGUISTIC SUBJECTIVITY

A philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS) (Fig. 2) is proposed on the basis of the model of integrating embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity (IEPCLS) to explore the realisation paths of the philosophical and cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS).

According to Fig. 2, to analyse the  philosophical and cognitive aspects of linguistic subjectivity (LS), first, we need to consider the categories, rhetorical devices and subjective markers of certain linguistic phenomena. Specifically, the categories of linguistic phenomena can be divided by their forms, meanings and functions. Rhetorical devices of linguistic phenomena include parallelism, contrast, comparison, negation, metonymy, metaphor, causality, rhetorical question, discussion, narration, illustration and description. Subjective markers contain lexical, syntactic and discourse levels. By describing the categories, rhetoric and subjective markers of linguistic phenomena, we explore linguistic subjectivity (LS) behind the linguistic phenomena, which is embodied in the pragmatic functions, philosophical and cognitive characteristics, and philosophical and cognitive connotations of linguistic subjectivity (LS). Among them, the pragmatic functions of linguistic subjectivity (LS) in linguistic phenomena include warning, statement, suggestion, selection, persuasion, blame and complaint. The philosophical and cognitive characteristics of linguistic subjectivity (LS) in linguistic phenomena include subjects of consciousness and experience of speakers, speaker’s embodiment, speaker’s self-centrality, and speaker’s interaction and perception of social communication context (SCC). The philosophical and cognitive connotations of linguistic subjectivity (LS) in linguistic phenomena include the speaker’s communicative purpose and intention; the speaker’s experience, emotion, attitude and interpretation of the real world, objective events, or hearers; the speaker’s stance and values.

To test the  validation of the  philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS), we select the language phenomenon of discourse construction and explore the specific realisation paths of the philosophical and cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS): speaker’s self-expressions, speaker’s meaning assignment to social communication context (SCC) and speaker’s meaning interpretation of social communication context (SCC).

LINGUISTIC SUBJECTIVITY EXISTING IN SPEAKER’S SELF-EXPRESSIONS

The construction of the features of discourse is the product of choosing language representations expressing self by communicative subjects under the restriction of communicative purposes (Zhao 2020: 41). The philosophical and cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS) can lie in the speaker’s self-expressions, including the speaker’s subjective tendency centered on self-experience and self-perception, being reflected in the speaker’s communicative intention, or attitude, emotion, stance and opinion toward the real world, objective events and hearers. This subjective tendency is born for the purpose of communication and is thus ubiquitous, always appearing or hidden in the speaker’s discourse.

According to the  function of the  discourse construction, Example (1) belongs to the warning discourse construction.

(1) This is not a novel, but the truth, so do not despise it, do not go out, do not scream, please stay at home honestly! (From Microblog)

The speaker employs rhetorical devices such as contrast (‘not...but...’), parallelism (‘do not... do not... do not...’), the imperative sentence and warning mood (‘despise... go out... scream... stay...’), and subjective markers such as the  affect adverb ‘honestly’. These rhetorical devices convey the  pragmatic function of warning, representing the  non-objectivity of linguistic subjectivity (LS) and the cognitive characteristics of the speaker’s self-centrality, that is, the speaker stands in his/her own perspective and constructs his/her power relation superior to the hearer. Example (1) is based on the speaker’s own embodied experience and consciousness fighting against COVID-19, which shows the philosophical characteristics of linguistic subjectivity (LS): the speaker’s physical embodiment toward events and the speaker’s interaction and perception of the social communication context (SCC). These characteristics indicate the connotations of linguistic subjectivity (LS): the speaker’s subjective will to warn the hearer to take the correct anti-epidemic behaviour in face of the epidemic.

LINGUISTIC SUBJECTIVITY EXISTING IN SPEAKER’S MEANING ASSIGNMENT TO SOCIAL COMMUNICATION CONTEXT

Utterance subject, language and context constitute the stereo, interactive and dynamic system, and any language is inseparable from the specific context of communication (Peng 2021: 82). Speakers can express their evaluation, emotion, stance, or opinion toward objective events according to the context. The speaker needs to select certain language representation means to express his/her own subjective ideas to make discourse coherent, to convey his/her own subjective intention or conceptual meaning, which is a mapping of the social communication context (SCC). Both concept mapping and concept processing are closely related to the speaker’s own experience and consciousness.

Concerning the function of the discourse construction, Example (2) is an example of the suggestion discourse construction.

(2) I call on G20 members to enhance anti-epidemic information sharing with the support of WHO and to promote control and treatment protocols that are comprehensive, systematic and effective. (Working Together to Defeat the COVID-19 Outbreak by Xi Jinping)

On the basis of the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, the speaker uses the plural form of the first-person pronoun we to clarify his stance that he hopes to overcome the epidemic as soon as possible. Moreover, the single form of the first-person pronoun I reflects the self-centrality of the speaker. Example (2) shows the rhetoric parallelism (‘enhance… promote…, comprehensive, systematic and effective’) and the subjective marker (‘call on’). These devices jointly construct a coherent and dynamic embodied cognitive discourse frame. The speaker attaches historical significance to these devices, making them carry Xi’s subjective proposal: his firm determination of global cooperation and joint measures to defeat the epidemic soon.

LINGUISTIC SUBJECTIVITY EXISTING IN SPEAKER’S MEANING INTERPRETATION OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION CONTEXT

Prior to meaning construction, the speaker needs thinking processing of the social communication context (SCC). The speaker then construes the specific objective events, the hearers and person relationship in certain social communication context (SCC). Finally, the speaker produces a  proper discourse conforming to the  social communication context (SCC) from the self-perspective according to his/her own knowledge background, cultural background and social background, as well as practical experience and perception of social communication context (SCC). Similarly, with the hearer’s own knowledge background, social background, cultural background, realistic experience, and consciousness and cognition of social communication context (SCC), the hearer can understand the speaker’s subjective feelings, evaluation, cognition and stance on the hearers, cognitive objects, cognitive subjects, and the relationship between conscious subjects and objects. The hearer can also deduce speaker’s various semantic orientations through the semantic interpretation of certain social communication context (SCC).

As for the function of discourse construction, Example (3) shows an example of the selection discourse construction.

(3) To be or not to be, that is the question. (Hamlet by Shakespeare)

The speaker uses the rhetoric contrast ‘to be or not to be’ and the selective subjective marker ‘... or...,’ expressing the pragmatic function of selection, which can encourage the hearer to understand the hesitation, pain and contradiction of the speaker on the basis of this context and his/her own realistic experience and cognitive reasoning. The speaker also constructs two embodied cognitive frameworks with two diametrically opposed concepts: life and death. In this selection discourse construction, the hearer can employ his/her background knowledge, that is, the tragic experience of the death of Hamlet’s father, the remarriage of Hamlet’s mother and the usurpation of Hamlet’s uncle, to understand the helplessness of the speaker in his life and the desire to commit suicide. Moreover, by analysing the usage of ‘or’, the hearer can infer that Hamlet was afraid of death at that time; hence, the question is followed by ‘that is the question’. These devices reflect the philosophical and cognitive characteristics of the speaker as subject of consciousness and experience, speaker’s self-centrality, embodiment, and interaction and perception of social communication context (SCC).

CONCLUSIONS

A model of integrating the embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity was constructed, and a philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS) was proposed to analyse the philosophical and cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS) and its concrete realisation paths and to reveal the philosophical attribute and cognitive nature of linguistic subjectivity (LS). The following conclusions could be drawn:

(1) Linguistic subjectivity (LS) is characterised by the speaker as subject of consciousness, speaker’s embodiment, speaker’s self-centrality, and speaker’s interaction and perception of the SCC.

(2) Linguistic subjectivity (LS) exists in the  speaker’s real experience of the  world, self-consciousness, self-experience, self-cognition, self-concept, or the  speaker’s subjective inner world as well as the speaker’s interaction and perception of the outer social communication context (SCC).

(3) The realisation paths of the philosophical and cognitive existence of linguistic subjectivity (LS) include the speaker’s self-expressions, the speaker’s meaning assignment to social communication context (SCC) and the speaker’s meaning interpretation of social communication context (SCC).

(4) The philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS) concretises the originally abstract philosophical and cognitive study of linguistic subjectivity (LS) into exploring the pragmatic functions, philosophical and cognitive characteristics, and philosophical and cognitive connotations of linguistic subjectivity (LS) via the categories, rhetoric and subjective markers of linguistic phenomena.

This study integrates the  theories of embodied philosophy and cognitive linguistics. The constructed model of integrating the embodied philosophy and cognition of linguistic subjectivity (IEPCLS) and the proposed philosophical cognitive analysis framework of linguistic subjectivity (LS) can make the philosophical and cognitive research of linguistic subjectivity (LS) transparent and specific. However, the study explored linguistic subjectivity (LS) only with discourse constructions as examples. For future research, more language phenomena representing linguistic subjectivity (LS) will be combined with this model and framework to reveal the cognition of linguistic subjectivity (LS) specifically and accurately.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The work was supported by the Philosophy and Social Science Research Planning Project of Heilongjiang Province (Grant No. 21YYB158).

Received 23 January 2022
Accepted 18 May 2022

References