The paradigm of Weideman: Appreciating the uniqueness of language and scholarly disciplines

Abstract

This contribution commences with a substantiation of the claim made by
Weideman regarding the inevitable “philosophical base” of linguistics by showing that the question what a special science is, is not itself specific scientific in nature. Moreover, modal abstraction, as the distinctive feature of scientific thinking, also confirms the philosophical foundation of the various academic disciplines. The philosophical paradigm of Weideman enables an appreciation of the uniqueness of aspects and the coherence between them. Ultimately the argument proceeds from a non-reductionist
ontology. While appreciating what was discovered by one-sided (reductionist) approaches in the history of linguistics, one at once also has to recognize undeniable states of affairs. By expanding this perspective, in order to include the intertwinement of modal aspects and (natural and social) entities and processes, the functional and structural conditions for the uniqueness of language and regarding the exceptional human ability to speak, are highlighted.

Keywords: distinctive features, irreducibility, uniqueness and coherence, sign mode, modal abstraction, modal analogies, one-sided trends, apriori/ aposteriori, concept and word, constancy and change, speech organs, non-reductionism