I compare the tasks that Noam Chomsky and W. V. Quine assign the grammarian and point out that in many cases where Chomsky sees a question of fact Quine sees only a question of convenience. I argue that these differences are attributable, at least in part, to a difference in view concerning the data. Chomsky relies mostly on a speaker's reports of his linguistic intuitions. Quine finds this source methodologically moot. I develop a series of arguments that draw on Quine's theory of radical translation to defend Quine's doubts.
Noam Chomsky and W. V. Quine have both influenced our attitudes towards the study of natural language. Their views on the proper approach to language study, differ, however, in a number of important respects. As a result, their influence often pulls us in different directions and leaves those of us who study language with a number of different and often opposing tasks. One important difference concerns the evidence on which studies of language ought to proceed. Chomsky emphasizes the intuitions of fluent speakers, while Quine objects and holds out for the results of behavioral tests. In this paper, I wish to consider the significance of this difference and to use Quine's thought experiment of radical translation to develop an objection to Chomsky's view that The problem for the grammarian is to construct a description and, where possible, an explanation for the enormous mass of unquestionable data concerning the linguistic intuition of the native speaker. 1 On Quine's view, 2 the study of language might best be separated into two provinces: the theory of meaning and the theory of reference. To the theory of reference belongs the task of providing a systematic account of such terms as 'true', 'true of', and 'naming'. To the theory of meaning belongs the task of providing an account of 'significance', 'synonymy', and 'analyticity'. Within the theory of meaning the student of language finds two tasks: the task of the grammarian and the task of the lexicographer. About the task of the grammarian Quine says: