Edge and universalism vs. particularism

[Nicholas Evans]

Studying diversity is about charting and explaining the possible; studying universals is about charting and explaining the necessary. Both are part of science.
Nick 
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From: Discussion List for ALT <LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG> on behalf of Everett, Daniel <DEVERETT at BENTLEY.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 9:01 AM
To: LINGTYP at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
Subject: Re: Edge and universalism vs. particularism

The quaint concept that science is “the pursuit of truth” is a hangover from the Calvinistic and Lutheran roots of the Enlightenment.

It is a historical oddity. Some do seem to believe it however.

I will be debating Nancy Cartwright and George Ellis on a related matter, is there anything we might call “independent evidence” in support of this or that at the How the Light Gets In Festival at Hay on Wye in May. http://howthelightgetsin.iai.tv

At that same conference I will be debating a couple of anthropologists on what hunter-gatherers have to teach us about our evolutionary roots (my answer is "pretty much nothing").

Dan

On Mar 10, 2014, at 4:31 PM, Matthew Dryer <dryer at BUFFALO.EDU> wrote:

> The idea that the search for diversity is somehow less scientific than the search for similarity is nonsense.  Science is the pursuit of truth, whether that truth involves diversity or similarity.
> Matthew
> _______________________
>
> Matthew Dryer, Professor
> Department of Linguistics