A language science for human sciences

Abstract

In this article, the author first of all presents an analysis of the evolution of language sciences during the past few decades, which points to the difficulty of identifying an epistemological framework which could constitute an alternative to the now extinct Chomskyan programme. Secondly, he claims that the major issue that the social sciences have to deal with is to understand the emergence and development of specifically human gnoseology; in this respect, he examines the contributions of cognitive science, of Piagetian constructivism and of social interactionism. The author then proceeds to a detailed description of several contributions of the language sciences: Saussure’s conception of the status of signs and of the interactions between natural languages and texts; Volochinov’s conception of the role of discourse in social development; different approaches of text architecture. Finally, on these grounds, the author demonstrates in what sense the language sciences can bring a decisive contribution to the human sciences.