Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist ThoughtIn this extraordinarily original and profound work, Noam Chomsky discusses themes in the study of language and mind since the end of the sixteenth century in order to explain the motivations and methods that underlie his work in linguistics, the science of mind, and even politics. This edition includes a new and specially written introduction by James McGilvray, contextualising the work for the twenty-first century. It has been made more accessible to a larger audience; all the French and German in the original edition has been translated, and the notes and bibliography have been brought up to date. The relationship between the original edition (published in 1966) and contemporary biolinguistic work is also explained. This challenging volume is an important contribution to the study of language and mind, and to the history of these studies since the end of the sixteenth century. |
Contents
Introduction to the third edition | 1 |
Cartesian Linguistics | 53 |
Acknowledgments | 55 |
Introduction | 57 |
Creative aspect of language use | 59 |
Deep and surface structure | 78 |
Description and explanation in linguistics | 93 |
Acquisition and use of language | 98 |
Summary | 107 |
Notes | 109 |
| 147 | |
| 154 | |
Other editions - View all
Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought Noam Chomsky Limited preview - 2009 |
Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought Noam Chomsky No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
animal aspect of language assumption behavior biolinguistic biology Cartesian linguistics child’s Chomsky Chomsky’s cognitive combinatory principles complex computational theory concepts construct contact mechanics Cordemoy creative aspect Cudworth deep structure Descartes Descartes’s determine develop difficult discourse discussion distinction empiricist example explain expression fact faculty figure find first fixed human language Humboldt I-language idea identifiable infinite innate internalist language acquisition learning Leibniz lexical items linguistic creativity Linguistic Theory machine man’s Marsais meaning mental modern linguistics natural language naturalistic Noam Chomsky noun objects observations organization perception perhaps philosophical Plato’s Problem Port-Royal Grammar Port-Royal grammarians Port-Royal Logic produce propositions rationalist reason references reflection regarding relations relative clause rules Schlegel science of mind scientific semantic sense sentences significant soul sounds specific speech study of language sufficient surface structure syntax theory of language things thought underlying understand universal universal grammar words