Topic: Noam Chomsky on Human Language and Philosophy of Mind

Speaker: Professor Ray C. Dougherty, New YorkUniversity

Time: 7:00 p.m., July, 28

Place: B315

Abstract:

      Noam Chomsky (1929-) published a book, Syntactic Structures (1958) that revolutionized Linguistics, defined as ‘the formal study of language structures’, by introducing the scientific methodology invented by Sir Isaac Newton (1670) in physics and astronomy into the study of grammar, syntax, and semantics. Chomsky argued that the structures of all human languages match the problem solving and memory capacities defined by the neurological organization of ‘the’ human brain. He maintained that all modern human brains function equivalently since any baby can learn any human language with equal facility and become a ‘native speaker’. Hence, ‘the’ human brain defines the abstract-idealized model of a newborn’s language acquisition capacities. Charles Darwin and Jemmy Button (1859) agree. Chomsky’s tenet: ‘Language is the mirror of the mind’ derives from the philosophy of language of St. Augustine (400) and Descartes (1650), who thought that much of human language was innate in the human mind and did not derive from experience, but merely was triggered to awaken by experience. Much study of both human and animal (mainly bird) intelligence and language supports Chomsky’s position. We shall use simple examples drawn from everyday experiences and common knowledge. You may leave not knowing anything you did not already know, but hopefully, thinking differently about what you thought you knew. You shall see why Chomsky’s ideas often are labeled ‘a revolution in cognitive/brain science’.

Background of Professor Ray C. Dougherty

B.A. in electrical engineering,DartmouthCollege, 1962

Masters degree of Business, Tuck School of Dartmouth College, 1964

Ph. D in linguistics from MIT, 1969, with Noam Chomsky as advisor.

1969-1976, Professor ofNew YorkUniversity

1976-1978, Professor ofUniversity of Salzburg,Austria

1979-2014, Professor ofNew YorkUniversity

2014-present, Professor Emeritus ofNew YorkUniversity

            and visiting professor ofColumbiaUniversity

Information about Prof. Dougherty’s background and research can be found at:

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/linguistics/doughert.html#one

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/linguistics/ling.html

http://www.nyu.edu/pages/linguistics/doughert.html#one