New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind [Paperback]

Noam Chomsky (Author), Neil Smith (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521658225 | ISBN-13: 978-0521658225 | Publication Date: May 1, 2000 | Edition: 1ST

This book is an outstanding contribution to the philosophical study of language and mind, by one of the most influential thinkers of our time. In a series of penetrating 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What is impressive about Chomsky's writing is not just its awesome breadth and remarkable scope, but that after half a century he still has the power to surprise: from the observation that human beings are not a natural kind to the importance of Japanese for the analysis of English; from the rejection of his celebrated invention 'deep structure' to the conjecture that language, despite its biological nature, may be close to perfection; from the tension between common sense and science to the implications of what we know about a brown house or a cup of tea. Everything combines to give a unique and compelling view of language and mind." From the Foreword

"...this is a very important book; not just because a lot of what it says is true, but also because Chomsky is a very important thinker." Jerry Fodor, The Times Literary Supplement

"Highly recommended for all programs supporting a philosophy major or related work in linguistics and cognitive science." Choice

"The essays are difficult, dense, and tremendously rewarding for the persevering reader." Virginia Quarterly Review

"At a time when various embarrassingly incompetent accounts of language are widespread in university humanities departments under such names as 'literary theory,' 'deconstruction,' and 'postmodernism' it is worth emphasizing that [Chomsky's] work in linguistics is at the highest intellectual level." The New York Review of Books

"Alltogether, the book is a selection of very readable writings, and it certainly holds surprises for the psychologist who thinks that 'we' have abandoned Chomskyian linguistics rightly in the 1950's. The book shows why 'we' should not have - if only because of the quality of the argumentation one always finds in Chomsky's writings." Theory and Psychology

Book Description

This is an outstanding contribution to the philosophical study of language and mind, by one of the most influential thinkers of our time. In these penetrating essays, Chomsky cuts through the confusion and prejudice which 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. He uses a range of imaginative linguistic analyses to defend the view that knowledge of language is internal to the human mind.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1ST edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521658225
• ISBN-13: 978-0521658225
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. A member of the American Academy of Science, he has published widely in both linguistics and current affairs. His books include At War with Asia, Towards a New Cold War, Fateful Triangle: The U. S., Israel and the Palestinians, Necessary Illusions, Hegemony or Survival, Deterring Democracy, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy and Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for philosophers, August 15, 2001

By 

"swingpit" (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind (Paperback)

There are a lot of fantastic ideas in the book, despite the fact that it has the appearance of being a purely negative work (arguments against philosophers rather than a constructive piece of its own). In order to get to the original and interesting points, one has to overlook many familiar flaws in Chomsky's philosophical writing: (1) Because he mostly publishes collections of papers, such as this volume, his philosophical work is overly repetitive. Often one wonders whether this book would be half as long if the repetitions were just editted out. (2) One gets the sense that Chomsky is quite uncharitable to his opponents in reconstructing their arguments. For instance, he emphasizes psychological behaviorism as the key component to Quinean naturalism, overlooking many of the similiarities between his own view of naturalism and Quine's view (minus behaviorism). Chomsky makes an important point that an analytic/synthetic distinction can be made quite sharp and clear empirically on linguistic grounds (it follows from the language instinct). Quine himself would not object that a clear analytic/synthetic distinction could be made on empirical grounds, he makes one himself in one of his essays. (3) Chomsky often does not build systematic arguments against some of the points that his opponents make. Often, he would simply integrate a brief quotation from his opponents into his writing, and say something like "Fair enough, but this doesn't answer question X" and then he moves on. Often, a careful reader would want to reconstruct what Chomsky means, and would probably want to work out the very argument that Chomsky himself omits.

In short, if one is able to read this book in a very different way from the manner in which Chomsky reads the works of his opponents, (i.e., charitably) and look past the repetitiveness, one will see that this book is full of insightful ideas. In fact, I think that it has the potential to redirect certain fields of research in philosophy. Scholars who are interested in issues of naturalism and normativity, not just in the cognitive sciences, but sciences in general, should read this work carefully. Needless to say, anyone interested in what the foundations for a naturalized philosophy of language could possibly be must read this book.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chomsky the philosopher, June 4, 2001

By 

John Bolender (Ankara Turkey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind (Paperback)

This is Chomsky defending his conception of the mind and of language from philosophical views which are incompatible with it. The Kripke/Putnam view that meanings are largely determined by reference is countered by Chomsky's view that it is usually people, not words, that refer. One uses the word "London" to refer to different things in different conversational contexts, sometimes an abstract thing, sometimes something concrete, etc., and so there is no single coherent thing, London itself, which can serve as the referent of "London." One can make similar points about "water" and "gold," which supposedly makes trouble for Kripke and Putnam. Many other topics are treated in defending Chomsky's internalism and nativism, such as Quine on analyticity (for Chomsky, there are analytic entailments and they are largely innately based). In fact, there is really too much here to treat in any satisfactory way in a brief review, but suffice it to add that one really intriguing thing about this book is that Chomsky is going beyond mere syntax and also considering the probability of an innate basis for semantics. If I have one complaint, it is that Chomsky sometimes treats topics too quickly and sometimes even a bit enigmatically leaving more work for the reader to figure out what he means. But this fault, if I am right in calling it that, is rare, and the book is definitely worth reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant and original philosophy of mind and language, January 9, 2012

By 

Ben - See all my reviews

This review is from: New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind (Paperback)

Among other virtues, this compilation of lectures and essays contains:

- a concise and ingenious rejection of the traditional mind-body problem as a pseudo-problem arising from a superseded pre-Newtonian contact mechanics

- a dismissal of the conventional notion of mental content as conceptually underspecified and explanatorily irrelevant

- historical and conceptual arguments against the prospects of reducing the special sciences (namely, linguistics) to physics, neuroscience, etc.

This isn't even to mention the goodies this book contains for those (unlike me) interested more in language than in mind, including insights into the implications of overlooked yet paradoxical uses of everyday words and phrases, as well as powerful arguments against externalist views of linguistic meaning.

I can't recommend this book highly enough for anyone interested in philosophy of mind or philosophy of language.