"In studying the evolution of mind, we cannot guess to what extent there are physically possible alternatives to, say, transformational generative grammar, for an organism meeting certain other physical conditions characteristic of humans. Conceivably, there are none – or very few – in which case talk about evolution of the language capacity is beside the point. The vacuity of such speculation, however, has no bearing one way or another on those aspects of the problem of mind that can be sensibly pursued. It seems to me that these aspects are, for the moment, the problems illustrated in the case of language by the study of the nature, the use, and the acquisition of linguistic competence."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from the United StatesHistorians from the United StatesJews from the United StatesLinguists from the United StatesSocial anarchists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chap. 3 : Linguistic contributions to the study of mind: future
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Noam Chomsky
philosopher, linguist, political writer
1928 · United States
US-amerikanischer Sprachwissenschaftler und Autor
467 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Noam Chomsky →
Related Quotes
"In the post-Vietnam War era the need for Communist abuses has been no less pressing than before. More facts have come…"
"Among the many symbols used to frighten and manipulate the populace of the democratic states, few have been more impo…"
"And it’s gone on for the United States. We have measures of it. I’m sure you know that the Rand Corporation about a y…"
"The U.S.'s privatized for-profit health care system had long been an international scandal, with twice the per capita…"
"It is tempting to cast the blame on Trump for the disastrous response to the crisis. But if we hope to avert future c…"
"In the West, I think a large part of what’s happening, a very large part, is the bitter, savage, class war that’s bee…"
"The scale of the plague is surprising, indeed shocking, but not its appearance. Nor the fact that the U.S. has the wo…"
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all."
"I use Google all the time, I’m happy it’s there. But just as when I read The New York Times or the Washington Post, o…"
"The Native population (in the US) suffered a migrant crisis of an incredible kind ... where the immigrants come in wi…"