Cognitive value of scientific concept

Abstract

The article studies the essence of scientific theory and scientific concept. It is clarified what the concept is and how it differs from other forms of holistic knowledge, and what criteria the concept must meet in order to be called scientific. It was determined that the closest philosophical branch to science is the philosophy of science, as well as another discipline adjacent to linguistics – the philosophy of language. The philosophy of language is a research branch of philosophy that elucidates the role of language and speech in cognitive processes and structures of consciousness. The role of methodology as a transitional type of intellectual activity that combines the subject-pragmatic nature of the philosophy of science and the object-argumentation nature of science is outlined. The first scientist who explicitly and unambiguously made linguistic research dependent on methodology was Ferdinand de Saussure. Saussure did not use such a term, but spoke of «point of view». Methodological integrity and pragmatism are defined as the most essential characteristics of a scientific concept. The analysis of a scientific concept should consist, first, of understanding the methodological foundations on which it is built by the author of such a linguistic concept, in particular, his understanding of: the ontology of the researched object, the epistemology of linguistic research, the system of research methods. Only after that, the texts, individual utterances, statements, or remarks of the author of the scientific text, his followers or opponents, can be perceived adequately, and their critical assessments can acquire cognitive value.