New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind

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by Noam Chomsky,

Foreword by Neil Smith

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published July 2000, 19.95 pages, paper

ISBN 0521658225

In a series of essays, Chomsky cuts through the confusion and prejudice that has infected the study of language and mind, bringing new solutions to traditional philosophical puzzles and fresh perspectives on issues of general interest, ranging from the mind-body problem to the unification of science. Using a range of imaginative and deceptively simple linguistic analyses, Chomsky defends the view that knowledge of language is internal to the human mind. He argues that a proper study of language must deal with this mental construct. According to Chomsky, therefore, human language is a "biological object" and should be analyzed using the methodology of the sciences. His examples and analyses come together in this book to give a unique and compelling perspective on language and the mind.

Contents

Foreword by Neil Smith
Preface
1. New horizons in the study of language
2. Explaining language use
3. Language and interpretation: philosophical reflections and empirical inquiry
4. Naturalism and dualism in the study of language and mind
5. Language as a natural object
6. Language from an internalist perspective
7. Internalist explorations
Bibliography
Index

Review

In recent years Noam Chomsky has been widely recognized for his political writings and decidedly skeptical view of the “New World Order” (globalization and American post-cold war hegemony in particular). Perhaps lost in his growing stature as a political thinker and activist is his inventive and controversial work in linguistics. This current volume reminds us of Chomsky as linguist, collecting his writings on language and on broader philosophical and scientific issues. Chomsky rearticulates and defends his well-known and somewhat notorious internalist view of language. In opposition to the philosophical tradition which stresses the social nature of language and its relation to the external world, Chomsky views language as individualistic and internal to the human mind/brain. Assessing the implications of this understanding, Chomsky argues that language is a “biological object” and should be analyzed using the methods of the natural sciences. This in turn, leads to a radical questioning and challenge to the mind/body dualism so prevalent in the Western philosophical tradition. Thus, throughout the essays Chomsky places his own thought in the context of past philosophers (Descartes) and more recent thinkers, including Putnam, Dummet, and others.

To read about Chomsky's take on contemporary American education, Chomsky on Miseducation (2000)