Chomsky: Obsolete?

[Jeff MacSwan]

It's not a surprise that those who are committed to frameworks which
disavow generativist work would gleefully await the day when the most
influential figure, who also created the field, is no longer "relevant."

But Chomsky's work actually continues to grow in significance and
influence, precisely due to its relevance not only to linguistics
generally, but also to the social sciences, the cognitive sciences,
computer science and mathematics, and philosophy.

While one can do interesting and important linguistic research that does
not heavily rely on Chomsky's own specific contributions to linguistic
theory, the idea that his work has generally lost relevance or
significance reflects a lack of acquaintance with the current
linguistics literature.

Jeff MacSwan

-----Original Message-----
From: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org
[mailto:info-childes at mail.talkbank.org] On Behalf Of Anat Ninio
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 7:56 AM
To: r.n.campbell
Cc: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org
Subject: Re: Chomsky: Obsolete?

Hi Robin,

Chomsky actually changed his mind about what syntax is, so maybe he's 
now a more relevant figure than before?

Anat Ninio



r.n.campbell wrote:
>> *Competence vs. Performance: A False Distinction?*
>
> A broader topic (which includes this one and is equally worth 
> discussing) is that Noam Chomsky and all his works are also obsolete. 
> For me, it will be a happy day when this is so.
> -- 
>   
> Dr Robin N Campbell
> Dept of Psychology
> University of Stirling
> STIRLING FK9 4LA
> Scotland, UK
>
> telephone: 01786-467649  facsimile: 01786-467641
> email: r.n.campbell at stir.ac.uk
> Website: http://www.psychology.stir.ac.uk/staff/rcampbell/index.php
>
> -- 
>
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