Chomsky on the 'ordinary language' view of language

Synthese 120 (2):151-191 (1999)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

There is a common-sense view of language, which is held by Wittgenstein, Strawson Dummett, Searle, Putnam, Lewis, Wiggins, and others. According to this view a language consists of conventions, it is rule-governed, rules are conventionalised, a language is learnt, there are general learning mechanisms in the brain, and so on. I shall call this view the ‘ ordinary language ’ view of language. Chomsky’s attitude towards this view of language has been rather negative, and his rejection of it is a major motivation for the development of his own theory. In this paper I shall review Chomsky’s long-standing criticisms. I shall show that Chomsky’s argument does not constitute a dismissal of the ‘ordinarylanguage’ view of language, Chomsky’s conclusions about language do not follow from his argument, and the ‘ ordinary language ’ view actually points to a promising way for us to understand the true nature of language and mind.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,221

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Language without linguistics.Justin Leiber - 1999 - Synthese 120 (2):193-211.
In defense of public language.Ruth Garrett Millikan - 2003 - In Louise M. Antony & H. Hornstein (eds.), Chomsky and His Critics. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. pp. 215–237.
New horizons in the study of language and mind.Noam Chomsky - 2000 - New York: Cambridge University Press.
Swimming and speaking spanish.Patricia Hanna - 2006 - Philosophia 34 (3):267-285.
Ignorance Radicalized.Gergo Somodi - 2009 - Studia Philosophica Estonica 2 (2):140-156.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
211 (#86,728)

6 months
5 (#244,107)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin, and Use.Noam Chomsky - 1986 - Prager. Edited by Darragh Byrne & Max Kölbel.
Word and Object.Willard Van Orman Quine - 1960 - Les Etudes Philosophiques 17 (2):278-279.
Rules and representations.Noam A. Chomsky - 1980 - Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3 (127):1-61.

View all 30 references / Add more references