Some reflections on Chomsky’s notion of reference

Enrico Cipriani

University of Torino , Italy


Abstract

In this paper, I will focus on Chomsky’s interpretation of the notion of reference. I will summarize Chomsky’s criticisms against the externalist interpretation of such notion, and I will then focus on the internalist (and syntactic) interpretation that the MIT linguist provides. Then I will focus on the relation between the internalist interpretation and the notion of truth, discussing in particular Casalegno and Hinzen’s objections: I will point out that truth does not represent a particular problem for the internalized reference. Finally, I will show how Chomsky explains, inside the internalist perspective, the phenomenon of communication. In Conclusions, I will sketch two important points.

Keywords:

internalized reference, internalist vs. subjective truth, communication, reference vs. referential acts, constitutional uniformity of speakers, I-language, truth conditions

Bates, E., D. Thal, and V. Marchman. 1991. In N.A. Krasnegor, D.M. Rumbaugh, R.L. Schefelbusch, M. Studdert-Kennedy (eds.), Biological and behavioral determinants of language development. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

Bonomi, A. 1983. Linguistica e logica. In C. Segre (ed.), Intorno alla linguistica, 148-171. Milano: Feltrinelli.

Borghi, A.M. 2010. Comprensione del linguaggio: Movimento, azione, socialità. Teorie & Modelli XVI: 67-76.

Borghi, A.M., and F. Cimatti. 2009. Words as tools and the problem of abstract words meanings. Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of Cognitive Science Society: 2304-2309. Amsterdam: Cognitive Science Society.

Borghi, A.M., and F. Cimatti. 2010. Embodied cognition and beyond: Acting and sensing the body. Neuropsychologia 48: 763-773.

Casalegno, P. 1997. Filosofia del linguaggio. Firenze: La Nuova Italia Scientifica.

Chomsky, N. 1955. Logical Syntax and Semantics. Their Linguistic Relevance. Language 31(1): 36-45.

Chomsky, N. 1957. Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton.

Chomsky, N. 1964. Current Issues in Linguistic Theory. The Hague: Mouton.

Chomsky, N. 1975. Reflections on Language. New York: Pantheom.

Chomsky, N. 1976. Conditions on Rules of Grammar. Linguistic Analysis 2: 303-351.

Chomsky, N. 1977. On wh-Movement. In P.W. Culicover, T. Wasow, and A. Akmajian (eds.), Formal Syntax, 71-132. New York-San Francisco-London: Academic Press.

Chomsky, N. 1980. Rules and Representation. New York: Columbia University Press.

Chomsky, N. 1981. Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris.

Chomsky, N. 1986.. Knowledge of Language. Its Nature, Origin and Use. Praeger.

Chomsky, N. 2000. New Horizons in the Study of Language and Mind. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.

Chomsky, N. 2001. On Nature and Language. Siena: Università degli Studi di Siena.

Chomsky, N. 2005. Three Factors of Language Design. Linguistic Inquiry 36(1): 1-22.

Chomsky, N. 2012. The Science of Language and Mind. Interviews with James McGilvray. Cambridge MA: Cambridge University Press.

Davidson, D. 1986. A Nice Derangement of Epitaphs. In E. Lepore (ed.), Truth and Interpretation, 307-319. Oxford: Blackwell.

Davidson, D. 1991a. Epistemology Externalized. Dialectica XLV: 191-202.

Davidson, D. 1991b. Three Varieties of Knowledge. In A. Phillips Griffiths, A.J. Ayer (eds.), Memorial Essays, 153-166. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Delfitto, D., and G. Graffi. 2005. Chomsky fra storia della scienza e filosofia del linguaggio. In N. Chomsky. 2000, trad. it. Nuovi orizzonti nello studio del linguaggio e della mente, 9-33. Milano: Il Saggiatore.

Darwin, C. 1857/1968. The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Edited by J.W. Burrow. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Dworkin, R. 1996. Objectivity and Truth: You’d Better Believe It. Philosophy and Public Affairs 25(2): 87-139.

Dowty, D. 1979. Word meaning and Montague Grammar: the semantics of verb and time in generative semantics and in Montague PTQ. Dordrecht: Reidel.

Fodor, J.A. 1975. The Language of Thought. Hassocks: Harvester.

Fodor, J.A. 1998. Concepts: Where Cognitive Sciences Went Wrong. New York: Oxford University Press.

Fodor, J.A., and E. Lepore. 1992. Holism: A Shopper’s Guide. Oxford: Blackwell.

Goodman, N. 1949. On likeness of meaning. Analysis 10(1): 1-7.

Goodman, N. 1953. On some differences about meaning. Analysis 13(4): 90-96.

Gould, S.J. 1982. The Panda’s Thumb. New York: Norton.

Graffi, G. 1975. Equivalenti o inconciliabili? Su alcuni sviluppi recenti della linguistica trasformazionale. In U. Vignuzzi (ed.), Teoria e storia degli studi linguistici. Atti del VII Convegno della Società Italiana di Linguistica, Roma 2-3 giugno 1973, 2, 281-338. Roma: Bulzoni.

Hart, J., and G. Gordon. 1992. Neural Subsystems for Object Knowledge. Nature 359: 60-64.

Hinzen, W. 2003. Truth’s Fabric. Mind and Language 18(2): 194-219.

Hinzen, W. 2006. Internalism About Truth. Mind and Society, 5(2): 139-166.

Katz, J.J., and J. Fodor. 1963. The Structure of a Semantic Theory. Language 39: 170-210.

Kay, M.J., and A. Ellis. 1987. A Cognitive Neuropsychological Case Study of Anomia. Brain 110: 613-629.

Kripke, S.A. 1972. Naming and Necessity. In G. Garman, and D. Davidson (eds.), Semantics of Natural Language. Dordrecht: Reidel.

Kripke, S.A. 1980. Naming and Necessity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Lappin, S., R.D. Levine, and D.E. Johnson. 2000a. The Structure of Unscientific Revolutions. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 18: 665-771.

Lappin, S., R.D. Levine, and D.E. Johnson. 2000b. The Revolution Confused: A Reply to our Critics. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 18: 873-890.

Lappin, S., R.D. Levine, and D.E. Johnson. 2001. The Revolution Maximally Confused. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 19: 901-919.

Marconi, D. 1997. Lexical Competence. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Medawar, P.B. 1957. An unsolved problem in biology. In P.B. Medawar (ed.), The uniqueness of the individual. London: Methuen.

Meini, C., and A. Paternoster. 1992. Understanding Language Through Vision. In P. McKevitt (ed.), Integration of natural language and Vision Processing, 3, Computational Models and Systems. Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Miceli, G., L. Giustolisi, and A. Caramazza. 1991. The Interaction of Lexical and Non-Lexical Processing Mechanisms: Evidence from Anomia. Cortex 27: 57-80.

Nagel, T. 1997. The Last Word. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Paul, H. 1910. Ueber Volkerpsychologie. Suddeutsche Monatshefte 10: 363-373.

Paul, H. 1920. Prinzipien der Sprachgesschichte. Halle: Niemeyer.

Piattelli-Palmarini, M. 1986. The Rise of Selective Theories: A Case Study and Some Lessons from Immunology. In W. Demopolous, and A. Marras (eds.), Language Learning and Concept Acquisition: Foundational Issues, 117-130. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex.

Pinker, S. 1994. The Language Instinct. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

Pinker, S., and R. Jackendoff. 2005. The Faculty of Language: What’s Special About It? Cognition 95: 201-236.

Premack, D. 1985. Gavagai! or the future history of animal language controversy. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Prinz, J.J. 2002. Furnishing the Mind. Concepts and Their Perceptual Basis. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Putnam, H. 1975. The Meaning of ‘Meaning’. In H. Putnam (ed.), Philosophical Papers, 2, Mind, Language and Reality, 215-271. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Putnam, H. 1986a. Meaning Holism. In L.E. Hahn, and P.A. Schilpp (eds.), The Philosophy of W.V.O. Quine, 405-426. Open Court: La Salle.

Putnam, H. 1986b. Meaning in Our Mental Life. In E. Ullmann-Margalit (ed.), The Kaleidoscope of Science, 17-32. Dordrecht: Reidel.

Putnam, H. 1988. Representation and Reality. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Putnam, H. 1992. Replies. Philosophical Topics 20: 347-408.

Quine, W.V.O. 1951. Two Dogmans of Empiricism. The Philosophical Review 60: 20-43.

Rizzi, L. 1978. Chomsky e la semantica. Studi di grammatica italiana 7: 161-182. Firenze: Accademia della Crusca Edizioni.

Reuland, E. 2001. Primitives of Binding. Linguistic Inquiry 32(3): 439-492.

Riddoch, M.J., and G.W. Humphreys. 1987. Visual Object Processing in Optic Aphasia: A Case of Semantics Access Agnosia. Cognitive Neuropsychology 4: 131-185.

Rosenfeld, A. 1988. Computer Vision. Advances in Computers 27: 265-308.

Searle, J.R. 1969. Speech Acts. London: Cambridge University Press.

Shallice, T. 1988. From Neuropsychology to Mental Structure. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Tye, M. 1991. The Imagery Debate. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Voltolini, A. 2001. Why the Computational Account of Rule-Following Cannot Rule Out the Grammatical Account. European Journal of Philosophy 9(1): 82-105.

Warrington, E.K. 1985. Agnosia: The Impairment of Object Recognition. In J.A.M. Frederiks (ed.), Clinical Neuropsychology, Handbook of Clinical Neurology, 333-349. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.

Weinreich, U. 1966. Explorations in Semantic Theory. In T.A. Sebeok (ed.), Current Issues in Linguistics, 3, 395-798. The Hague: Mouton.

Download

Published
30-12-2016


Cipriani, E. (2016). Some reflections on Chomsky’s notion of reference. Linguistics Beyond and Within (LingBaW), 2(1), 44–60. https://doi.org/10.31743/lingbaw.5637

Enrico Cipriani 
University of Torino