Chomsky and His Critics (Philosophers and their Critics) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0631200215 ISBN 13: 9780631200215

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2003

Synopsis

In this compelling volume, ten distinguished thinkers -- William G. Lycan, Galen Strawson, Jeffrey Poland, Georges Rey, Frances Egan, Paul Horwich, Peter Ludlow, Paul Pietroski, Alison Gopnik, and Ruth Millikan -- address a variety of conceptual issues raised in Noam Chomsky's work.

• Distinguished list of critics: William G. Lycan, Galen Strawson, Jeffrey Poland, Georges Rey, Frances Egan, Paul Horwich, Peter Ludlow, Paul Pietroski, Alison Gopnik, and Ruth Millikan.
• Includes Chomsky's substantial new replies and responses to each essay.
• The best critical introduction to Chomsky's thought as a whole.

About this title

About the Author

Louise M. Antony is Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at The Ohio State University. She is editor, with Charlotte Witt, of A Mind of One's Own: Feminist Essays on Reason and Objectivity, 2nd edn. (2002).

Norbert Hornstein is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author of Move! A Minimalist Theory of Construal (Blackwell, 2000), Logical Form: From GB to Minimalism (Blackwell, 1995),and As Time Goes By: Tense and Universal Grammar (1994).

From the Back Cover

In this compelling volume, ten distinguished thinkers – William G. Lycan, Jeffrey Poland, Galen Strawson, Frances Egan, Georges Rey, Peter Ludlow, Paul Horwich, Paul M. Pietroski, Alison Gopnik, and Ruth Garrett Millikan – address a variety of conceptual issues raised in Noam Chomsky's work on mind and language.

Topics covered include:

• the ontological commitments inherent in a Chomskian approach to linguistic competence
• the possibility of systematic referential semantics for natural language
• whether we can learn anything about the foundations of language by adopting an evolutionary perspective
• whether the 'theory theory' in developmental psychology counters Chomsky's arguments for nativism
• the relevance and urgency of the mind–body problem in the post-Newtonian world.

These analyses are followed by substantial responses from Chomsky himself. The result is a provocative and engaging discussion of Chomsky's work on questions of central importance to theories of mind and language.

From the Inside Flap

In this compelling volume, ten distinguished thinkers – William G. Lycan, Jeffrey Poland, Galen Strawson, Frances Egan, Georges Rey, Peter Ludlow, Paul Horwich, Paul M. Pietroski, Alison Gopnik, and Ruth Garrett Millikan – address a variety of conceptual issues raised in Noam Chomsky's work on mind and language.

Topics covered include:

• 
  
• the ontological commitments inherent in a Chomskian approach to linguistic competence
• 
  
• the possibility of systematic referential semantics for natural language
• 
  
• whether we can learn anything about the foundations of language by adopting an evolutionary perspective
• 
  
• whether the ‘theory theory’ in developmental psychology counters Chomsky's arguments for nativism
• 
  
• the relevance and urgency of the mind–body problem in the post-Newtonian world.

These analyses are followed by substantial responses from Chomsky himself. The result is a provocative and engaging discussion of Chomsky’s work on questions of central importance to theories of mind and language.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0631200215
• ISBN 13: 9780631200215
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 354
• Editor: Antony Louise M.