Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the third edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the first edition
- Introduction
- 1 The mirror of the mind
- 2 The linguistic foundation
- 3 Language and psychology
- 4 Philosophical realism: commitments and controversies
- 5 Language and freedom
- Conclusion
- Envoi
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface to the third edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Preface to the first edition
- Introduction
- 1 The mirror of the mind
- 2 The linguistic foundation
- 3 Language and psychology
- 4 Philosophical realism: commitments and controversies
- 5 Language and freedom
- Conclusion
- Envoi
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
A Child of the Enlightenment.
(Chomsky, 1992b: 158)Chomsky's achievement
Why is Chomsky important? He has shown that the immense complexity of the innumerable languages we hear around us must be variations on a single theme, Universal Grammar. He has revolutionized linguistics, and in so doing has set a cat among the philosophical pigeons. He has resurrected the theory of innate ideas, demonstrating that a substantial part of our knowledge is genetically determined, reinstating in a new way rationalist ideas that go back centuries, but which had fallen into disrepute; and he has provided evidence that “unconscious knowledge” is what underlies our ability to speak and understand. He has played a major role in overturning the dominant school of behaviorism in psychology, and has returned the mind to its position of pre-eminence in the study of humankind. In short, Chomsky has changed the way we think of ourselves, gaining a position in the history of ideas on a par with that of Darwin or Descartes. And he has done this while devoting the majority of his time to dissident politics and activism: documenting the lies of government, exposing the hidden influences of big business, developing a model of the social order, and acting as the conscience of the West.
In recent history his peers in influence are such disparate figures as Einstein, Picasso, and Freud, with each of whom he has something in common. Like Freud – but with added intellectual rigor – he has changed our conception of the mind; like Einstein, he blends intense scientific creativity with radical political activism; like Picasso, he has overturned and replaced his own established systems with startling frequency. The most recent example of this iconoclasm – his “Minimalist Program” – calls into question a considerable proportion of his earlier achievement documenting the richness of the innate basis of the language faculty, with the aim of putting it on a sounder footing. Perhaps his greatest similarity is to Bertrand Russell, whose early work, Principia Mathematica, redefined the foundations of mathematics, and who devoted much of his life to political writing and activism. But while everyone knows something about mathematics, that most people have even heard of linguistics is largely due to Chomsky.
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- Information
- ChomskyIdeas and Ideals, pp. 1 - 6Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2016