The Science of Language Intervies ith James McGilvray [Hardcover]

In this previously unpublished series of interviews, Chomsky discusses his iconoclastic and important ideas concerning language, human nature and politics.In this previously unpublished series of interviews, Chomsky discusses his iconoclastic and important ideas concerning language, human nature and politics. In dialogue with James McGilvray, he takes up a wide variety of topics  the nature of language, the philosophies of language and mind and the evolution of language.In this previously unpublished series of interviews, Chomsky discusses his iconoclastic and important ideas concerning language, human nature and politics. In dialogue with James McGilvray, he takes up a wide variety of topics  the nature of language, the philosophies of language and mind and the evolution of language.Noam Chomsky is one of the most influential thinkers of our time, yet his views are often misunderstood. In this previously unpublished series of interviews, Chomsky discusses his iconoclastic and important ideas concerning language, human nature and politics. In dialogue with James McGilvray, Professor of Philosophy at McGill University, Chomsky takes up a wide variety of topics  the nature of language, the philosophies of language and mind, morality and universality, science and common sense, and the evolution of language. McGilvray's extensive commentary helps make this incisive set of interviews accessible to a variety of readers. The volume is essential reading for those involved in the study of language and mind, as well as anyone with an interest in Chomsky's ideas.Introduction; Part I. The Science of Language and Mind: 1. Language, function, communication: language and the use of language; 2. On a formal theory of language and its accommodation to biology. The distinctive nature of human concepts; 3. Representation and computation; 4. More on human concepts; 5. Reflections on the study of language; 6. Parameters, canalization, innateness, universal grammar; 7. Development, mal.