LINGUIST List 15.2850
Tue Oct 12 2004
Books: Linguistic Theories/Syntax: Seuren
Editor for this issue: Megan Zdrojkowski <meganlinguistlist.org>
Links to the websites of all LINGUIST's supporting publishers are available at the end of this issue.
Directory
1. Jared
Wright,
Chomsky's Minimalism: Seuren
Message 1: Chomsky's Minimalism: Seuren
Date: 08-Oct-2004
From: Jared Wright <jared.wright
oup.com>
Subject: Chomsky's Minimalism: Seuren
Title: Chomsky's Minimalism
Publication Year: 2004
Publisher: Oxford University Press
http://www.oup.com/us
Book URL:
http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/view=usa&ci=0195173066 ;
Author: Pieter A.M. Seuren, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Hardback: ISBN: 0195173058 Pages: 256 Price: U.S. $ 72.00
Paperback: ISBN: 0195173066 Pages: 256 Price: U.S. $ 29.95
Abstract:
Noam Chomsky's current theory, published in 1995, is known as 'The Minimalist
Program' and has been presented as his crowning achievement. It argues,
familiarly, that there exists a universal grammar that is hardwired, and that,
like an efficient machine, this grammar will tend to use the least possible
number of constraints (phonetically and syntactically) to produce an utterance.
Minimalism has spawned in linguistics an entire research program, despite being
fundamentally misguided, according to distinguished linguist and philosopher of
language Pieter Seuren.
Seuren's accessible and spirited attack argues that the Minimalist Program is
deeply flawed. He proposes that it fails to satisfy the basic criteria for sound
scientific work, such as respect for data, unambiguous formulations, and
falsifiability. Seuren points to the original acrimonious split in the 1960s and
1970s between Chomsky's generative grammar and the alternative generative
semantics proposed by his followers, and argues that the latter theory was
sounder and unfairly suppressed. Seuren maintains that this suppression--and the
cult surrounding Chomsky and Minimalism more generally--has done great damage to
linguistics by impairing open discussion of empirical issues and excluding valid
alternatives. 'Chomsky's Minimalism' will generate controversy among linguists
in its attack on the fundamental assumptions used by an entire generation of
researchers.
Linguistic Field(s): Linguistic Theories
Syntax
Written In: English (Language Code: ENG)
See this book announcement on our website:
http://linguistlist.org/get-book.html?BookID=11833
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