In the paper
Naturalism and
Dualism in the Study of
Language and Mind, Chomsky (1994) has stated the kind of naturalism which he holds and argued against some other kinds of naturalism and dualism in the study of language and mind.
Chomsky maintains that language and
Mind should simply be regarded as the linguistic and
mental aspects of the
Natural world, and no metaphysical import of any kind should be given to such terms. By studying the Language Acquisition Device or Universal Grammar and constructing intelligible theories, we inquire into the nature of mind and ultimately the brain. This is the methodological naturalism. He points out that the metaphysical and epistemic naturalism and dualism of various kinds held by a number of contemporary philosophers have greatly hampered the efforts for a real understanding of the nature of language and mind. Ever since the decline of the Cartesian dualism, we no longer have the definition of the physical, and no real mind-body problem exists today. What we have is the mental aspect of the natural world, and it can be studied by the naturalistic approach. The mental aspect of the natural world should not be regarded as different from any other aspects of the world. No dualism of any kind should be tolerated in the naturalistic inquiry. Although no one knows how to begin to relate the theories about the brain, its states and properties yielded by the naturalistic inquiry into the mind to properties of atoms, cells, neurons or other known structures of the brain, we should not be disheartened by such a disparity. The mental cannot be simply reduced to the physical and neurophysiology alone cannot account for mental events and phenomenon such as emotions, thoughts and theory construction. Chomsky argues that we face a typical problem of unification in the sciences, which may, as often in the past, require that the more 'basic' science be fundamentally recast if it is to be integrated with successful explanatory theory at other levels.
We see in Chomsky the symbol of the integration of the traditional rationalism and the scientific spirit in the history of Western thought. Actually, the Chomskian philosophy of language and the idea of naturalism is the convergence of the classic rationalism and the modern science. Generative grammar is the theory about human mind and brain. Compared with the philosophical discussions of language by those professional philosophers, Chomsky's philosophy of language is more persuasive and informative.
We hope that the present review can help the interested readers have a general understanding of the Chomskian philosophy of language and lay the basis for further studies.
More summaries about the Review of Chomsky' s Naturalism and Dualism in the Study of Language and Mind