Chomsky Ideas and Ideals

278 Pages·1999·6.977 MB·English

by  Neil Smith

Chomsky
Ideas and Ideals
Neil Smith
MMMCMhomsky
Ideas and Ideals
Noam Chomsky is one of the leading intellectual Wgures of modern
times. He has had a major inXuence on linguistics, psychology, and
philosophy,andasigniWcanteVectonarangeofotherdisciplinesfrom
anthropologytomathematics,educationtoliterarycriticism.
In this rigorous yet accessible account of Chomsky’s work and
inXuence,NeilSmithanalyzesChomsky’skeycontributionstothestudy
of language and the study of mind. He gives a detailed and partly
historicalexpositionof Chomsky’slinguistictheorizing,andexamines
the ideas (from deep and surface structure to the economy con-
siderations of the Minimalist Program) for which he is best known.
Smith discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of
Chomsky’swork,andarguesthathehasfundamentallychangedtheway
wethinkofourselves,gainingapositioninthehistoryofideasonapar
with that of Darwin or Descartes. Finally, he examines Chomsky’s
politicalideas and how theseWt intellectuallywith his scholarlywork.
Smitharguesthat,despiteChomsky’sowndisavowalofanyveryclose
connection,there are fundamental ideas of rationality, creativity, and
modularitythatdrawtogetherthedisparatestrandsofhisvastoutput.
Throughout, Smith explores the controversy surrounding Chomsky’s
work,andexplainswhy hehas beenbothadulatedandviliWed.
Thismuchneededbookwillbewelcomedbyawiderangeofreaders:
students and researchers in linguistics, philosophy, psychology, cog-
nitivescience,andpolitics,andanyonewithaninterestintheimpactof
Chomsky’swork.
NeilSmithisProfessorandHeadofLinguisticsatUniversityCollege
London.HeistheauthorofAnOutlineGrammarofNupe(1967);The
AcquisitionofPhonology(1973);ModernLinguistics:theResultsofChom-
sky’s Revolution (with Deirdre Wilson, 1979); The Twitter Machine:
ReXections on Language (1989); The Mind of a Savant (with Ianthi
Tsimpli,1995),andhehaseditedavolumeonMutualKnowledge(1982).
In addition, Neil Smith has published around one hundred essays,
articlesandreviewsinawidevarietyofpublications,includingJournalof
Linguistics,Lingua,Journalof Neurolinguistics,andGlotInternational.
Chomsky
Ideas and Ideals
Neil Smith
PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING)
FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF
CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia

http://www.cambridge.org

© Cambridge University Press 1999
This edition © Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing) 2002

First published in printed format 1999

A catalogue record for the original printed book is available
from the British Library and from the Library of Congress
Original ISBN 0 521 47517 1 hardback
Original ISBN 0 521 47570 8 paperback

ISBN 0 511 00978 X virtual (eBook Edition)
Dedication to my friends
Dearfriends,Isay friendshere
Inthelargersenseoftheword:
Wife,sister,associates,relatives,
Schoolmates,menandwomen,
Personsseenonlyonce
Orfrequentedallmylife:
Providedthatbetweenus,foratleasta moment,
Wasdrawna segment,
Awell-deWnedchord.
...rememberthetime
Beforethewaxhardened.
‘‘Tomyfriends’’byPrimoLevi (Levi,1990:5)
MMMM
Contents
Acknowledgments page ix
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 The mirror of the mind 7
Linguisticsasascience 8
Modularity 17
Competenceandperformance 28
Performance,parsing,andpragmatics 35
Evolutionandinnateness 38
Naturallanguageandthelanguageofthought 45
Chapter 2 The linguistic foundation 49
Introduction 49
Knowledgeoflanguage 50
Thelexicon 50
Knowledgeoflanguage:structure 53
Knowledgeoflanguage:structuralrelations 54
Levelsofrepresentation 56
Constituentsandrules 57
Deepstructure 59
Descriptionversusexplanation 62
GovernmentandBindingtheory 69
Emptycategories 76
Thestatusoftransformations 80
Principlesandparameters 81
Lexicalandfunctionalcategories 83
Minimalism 86
Ahistoricalprogression 90
Evolution 91
Chapter 3 Psychological reality 93
Causalityandobservability 95
Psychologicalrealityandthenatureofevidence 97
Languageprocessing 106
Languageacquisition(Plato’sproblem) 116
Languagepathology 126
Connectionism:thebehavioristsstrikeback 131
vii
viii Contents
Chapter 4 Philosophical realism: commitments and controversies 136
Commitments 136
Controversies 145
Languageandtheworld 146
Languageandthecommunity 149
Languageandtheindividual 155
Problemsofsemantics 162
Innateness 167
UniWcationandreduction 174
Conclusions 176
Chapter 5 Language and freedom 177
Explanationanddissent:thecommonthreads 177
Rationality,modularity,andcreativity 180
Theanarchistbackground 186
Thecritiqueof(American)foreignpolicy 190
Thecritiqueofdomesticpolicy 195
Thecritiqueofmediacontrol 199
Thetechniqueofdissection 203
Moralabsolutesandoptionsforthefuture 208
Thepositiveprogram 211
Conclusion 213
Envoi 214
Notes and references 215
Bibliography 241
Index 263
Acknowledgments
Mygreatestdebt,bothintellectualand personal,is to NoamChomsky.
Withouthiswork,andinspiration,mycareerwouldhavebeenradically
diVerent,andthisbookwouldobviouslynothaveexisted.Inaddition,he
hasmadetimeovertheyearstotalkandcorrespondwithme,despitethe
overwhelming pressures of his innumerable other commitments. Most
recently, when I sent him the pre-Wnal version of the manuscript, he
repliedwithsomesixtypagesofcommentsandsuggestions.IfIhavestill
misrepresentedhiminanyway,heisnottoblame.Ithasbeenaprivilege
to work in his shadow.
A number ofcolleaguesand friends have discussedall or parts of the
contentsofthisbookovertheWveyearsorsothatIhavebeenpreoccupied
withit:StefanieAnyadi,MisiBrody,RobynCarston,RayCattell,Teun
Hoekstra,RitaManzini,MilenaNuti,IanthiTsimpli,HansvandeKoot,
Nigel Vincent, and especially Annabel Cormack and Deirdre Wilson.
Needlesstosay,theyarenottobetakentoagreewithwhatIhavewritten,
nor to be blamed because I have sometimes failed to take their advice.
Closertohomemyfamily–Amahl,Ivan,andSaras–haveinspiredand
supportedmewithsageadvice,heartfeltencouragement,andgoodfood.
PartoftheworkforthisbookwascarriedoutwhileIwasinreceiptofa
British Academy research grant, which was matched by a comparable
period of sabbatical leave from University College London. I was also
grantedtravelexpensesbytheDeanoftheFacultyofArtsatUCLtovisit
Chomskyat MIT.I am grateful to the Academyand to the Collegefor
theirsupport,andtomycolleaguesforshoulderingmydutieswhileIwas
away.
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