On Everett & Piraha: "history holds the key"

[David B. Kronenfeld]

Yeah, I never thought of Sapir as that extreme a relativist either, 
even though he sometimes was spoken of as such--especially when 
linked with a popular reading of Whorf.
                         David

At 04:53 PM 4/23/2007, Daniel L. Everett wrote:
>I won't comment on the first choice. On the second, I doubt if anyone
>would disagree with you either. But I don't think that Sapir himself
>was an extreme relativist. I don't know anyone who is in fact. Martin
>Joos maybe was.
>
>D
>
>On Apr 23, 2007, at 6:36 PM, Tom Givon wrote:
>
>>
>>Of course, if I had to choose between Chomsky and Pike as to which
>>one was more arrogant, insulated and selef-centered, I'm not sure I
>>could make a principled decision; maybe flip a coin? Not quite in
>>the same vein, if I were forced to choose between Chomskian extreme
>>universalism/innatism and Sapirian extreme relativism/inputism, I
>>would consider it a bad intellectual choice. I'd bet on somewhere
>>mid-way between the two; sort of like nature-nurthure or chicken- 
>>egg. Cheers,  TG
>>
>>============
>snip snip