Chomsky: Ideas and Ideals

✍ Scribed by Neil Smith

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 298
• Edition: 2
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Noam Chomsky is one of the leading intellectual figures of modern times. He has had a major influence on linguistics, psychology and philosophy, and a significant effect on many other disciplines, from anthropology to mathematics, education to literary criticism. In this rigorous yet accessible account of Chomsky's work and influence, Neil Smith analyses Chomsky's key contributions to the study of language and the study of mind. He gives a detailed exposition of Chomsky's linguistic theorizing, discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of Chomsky's work, and argues that he has fundamentally changed the way we think of ourselves, gaining a position in the history of ideas on a par with that of Darwin or Descartes. This second edition has been thoroughly updated to account for Chomsky's most recent work, including his continued contributions to linguistics, his further discussion on evolution, and his extensive work on the events of September 11th, 2001.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Preface to the second edition......Page 13
Acknowledgments for the first edition......Page 15
Chomsky’s achievement......Page 17
On heroes and influences......Page 20
1 The mirror of the mind......Page 22
Linguistics as a science......Page 23
The nature of idealization......Page 26
Common sense......Page 30
Modularity......Page 31
Double dissociation......Page 35
Modules and quasi-modules......Page 39
Intelligence and “learning”......Page 40
Competence and performance......Page 41
Competence and grammar......Page 42
Rules......Page 43
I-language and E-language......Page 44
Parsing considerations......Page 48
Pragmatic considerations......Page 50
Competence and performance versus I-language and E-language......Page 51
Evolution and innateness......Page 52
Language acquisition......Page 53
Poverty of the stimulus......Page 54
Word meaning......Page 55
Universals......Page 56
Natural language and the language of thought......Page 59
Summary......Page 61
Introduction......Page 62
The lexicon......Page 63
Knowledge of structure......Page 65
Knowledge of structural relations......Page 66
Levels of representation......Page 69
Constituents and rules......Page 70
Deep structure......Page 72
Description versus explanation......Page 74
From rules to principles......Page 76
The elimination of PS rules......Page 79
X-bar theory......Page 80
Binding theory......Page 82
Locality......Page 84
Theta theory......Page 85
Case theory and government......Page 86
Empty categories......Page 89
The status of transformations......Page 92
Principles and parameters......Page 94
Lexical and functional categories......Page 96
Minimalism......Page 99
Economy......Page 102
The elements of Minimalism......Page 104
Perfect syntax......Page 108
A historical progression......Page 109
Evolution......Page 110
3 Psychological reality......Page 113
Causality and observability......Page 115
Psychological reality and the nature of evidence......Page 117
Intuitions......Page 119
Language processing......Page 125
The derivational theory of complexity......Page 126
Grammars and parsers......Page 128
Parsing problems......Page 131
Economy......Page 133
Teaching versus learning......Page 135
Parameter setting......Page 136
The critical period hypothesis......Page 139
Maturation......Page 142
Agenesis of the corpus callosum......Page 145
The polyglot savant......Page 146
Specific language impairment (SLI)......Page 147
Connectionism: the behaviorists strike back......Page 149
Realism......Page 154
I-language revisited......Page 156
Representation and computation......Page 157
Naturalism......Page 158
Mentalism......Page 160
Tacit knowledge......Page 161
The mind–body problem......Page 162
Language and the world......Page 163
Language and the community......Page 166
Language and the individual......Page 172
Problems of semantics......Page 178
Innateness......Page 183
Unification and reduction......Page 189
Conclusions......Page 191
Common sense and theory......Page 192
Rationality......Page 195
Modularity......Page 197
Malleability and plasticity......Page 198
Creativity......Page 200
The anarchist background......Page 201
The Encyclopédistes......Page 204
The critique of (American) foreign policy......Page 205
Vietnam......Page 207
East Timor......Page 208
9–11: terrorism and the “war on terror”......Page 210
The critique of domestic policy......Page 213
Pig farming in Haiti......Page 214
Drug trafficking......Page 215
The critique of media control......Page 216
Third world elections......Page 218
The treason of the intellectuals......Page 219
The technique of dissection......Page 220
The exposure of warped perspective......Page 221
The exposure of suppressed precursor events......Page 222
The exposure of debased language......Page 223
The Faurisson affair......Page 225
Islamic fundamentalism......Page 226
Authority......Page 227
The positive program......Page 228
Conclusion......Page 230
Envoi......Page 232
INTRODUCTION......Page 233
CHAPTER 1 THE MIRROR OF THE MIND......Page 234
CHAPTER 2 THE LINGUISTIC FOUNDATION......Page 239
CHAPTER 3 PSYCHOLOGICAL REALITY......Page 246
CHAPTER 4 PHILOSOPHICAL REALISM: COMMITMENTS AND CONTROVERSIES......Page 251
CHAPTER 5 LANGUAGE AND FREEDOM......Page 256
ENVOI......Page 263
Bibliography......Page 264
Index......Page 292