Reetta Konstenius, Åbo Akademi University
Since David Chalmers (1995) pointed out the hard problem of consciousness, the number of papers mentioning consciousness in relation to language decreased. The problem of subjective experience and awareness did not seem to have a solution. While consciousness is now rarely mentioned in linguistic literature the different aspects of consciousness have not disappeared from linguistic or cognitive theory. Awareness, intention, knowing etc. are fundamental. These concepts are also incorporated in an array of empirical studies on language processing or mental representations of language (e.g., Gonzales-Marques 2007). Can consciousness be studied in experimental settings through observational terms, indirect observables, and constructs? The aspect of subjectivity seems to be lost in the scientific process as Chalmers suggests. Subjective experience cannot be a collective third person perspective i.e., scientific knowledge. However, there are other aspects of consciousness that might to be available for an empirical approach.
Consciousness is a polysemous concept. Not only has different schools of thought given it differing meanings, but the term is also used to signify a set of different mental functions or states of mind as for example wakefulness, state of being responsive, perception of something, knowledge of something, cognizant, meta-awareness, sensible and so on. Most set members of the concept of consciousness have linguistic correlates that can be empirically studied. For example, meta-awareness in second language learning or eye-tracking involuntary vs. voluntary linguistic processing. The constructs that are measured in empirical research designs never tell us the whole story about consciousness, but they do touch important aspects of it.
The tension between subjectivity and objectivity in scientific research remains to be solved. This is a problem for the philosophy of science to answer. In linguistics standard empirical methodology can and should be used when studying the different aspects of consciousness in language. Conceptual analysis leading to a measurable construct with direct or indirect observables constitute the basis of an empirical research design.
References
Chalmers, D. J. 1995. Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies 2: 200- 19.
Gonzalez-Marquez, M. (Ed.). (2007). Methods in cognitive linguistics (Vol. 18). John Benjamins Publishing.