The Theoretical Basis Of Lakoff’s Cognitive Linguistics

The issue of language has long be concerned and studied by philosophers, linguists andpsychologists. Chomsky in1950s has led a cognitive revolution in which language was regarded as thewindow to the soul, the purpose of which is to study the cognitive functions of the brain. Thereby Chomskysituated the goal of linguistics in probing into the mechanism of the language acquisition of human brain.Since then in over forty years the generative linguistics established by Chomsky has become themainstream which up to now still exerts its influence. However, with the development of technologies andcognitive science, Chomsky’s theories has been criticized by the cognitive linguists that are represented byLakoff and Johnson who initiated an revolution toward Chomsky’s generative linguistics.Derived from linguistics and linguistic philosophy, cognitive linguistics is a new andcross-domain discipline, many concepts and thoughts of which can be traced in the20thcentury linguisticphilosophy. For instance, its Image Schema, Conceptual metaphor and Categorization are proposed in thebackground of Wittgenstein’s logical graphic theory, language-game and family resemblances. With thefurther development of the cognitive science, embodied philosophy is brought to the attention of somephilosophers and linguists. Merleau-Ponty in his Philosophy of mind thinks of mind and body as an unionin which body is the subject of consciousness and cognition, which has direct influence upon Lakoff’sembodied philosophy.As one of the main representatives of the second generation of cognitive linguistics, Lakoff firstof all criticized the traditional category theory, proposing a new one—prototypes and the basic-levelstructures. The cognitive science holds that, based on experiences and the interaction with the world,human beings in the first place form the cognitive model which is afterward categorized and conceptualized.Lakoff employs the image schema to elaborate the function of imago abstract structure. To further explainthe issue of human beings’ categorization, he proposes the ICM. In addition, metaphorical theory is alsocreated by Lakoff who thinks metaphor is not a matter of expression, but of thinking. It is a way of thinkingand a means of cognition. Thus, this theory creates a new approach to study metaphor from the angle ofcognition. Based on these aspects above, this paper is about to elaborate the main ideas of Lakoff’scognitive linguistics. According to Lakoff, cognitive science can be divided into two generations. One is representedby Chomsky’s generative linguistics. The other one is represented by his embodied philosophy put forwardin1970s which points out the three important discoveries in cognitive science: the embodiment of psyche,cognitive unconscious and the metaphor of mind. As the main component of embodied philosophy, thesethree discoveries not only distinguish the first generation of cognitive science from the second, but also arethe philosophical basis of cognitive linguistics.The embodied philosophy which holds up to the basic function of the body’s experiencesabandons the false ideas in objectivism and subjectivism and meanwhile absorbs their reasonable ones. Onthe one hand, it emphasizes the importance of knowing the world in accordance with the objective laws; onthe other hand, it values the subjective consciousness. Not only does the cognitive activities reflectobjective facts, but also influences them. Showing its strong vitality, the embodied philosophy provides anentire new explanation of western philosophy history, the essence of language and the understanding ofhuman beings, the theoretical system of which, though uncompleted, is of much value to the study ofcognition.