Chomsky Quine and naturalistic philosophy

Abstract

[Exerpt from Introduction, page 6] I will argue that while Chomsky's claims about language acquisition have been tested over the last fifty years and have not all stood up to critical scrutiny, Quine's views have not been tested in enough detail because most people have the erroneous belief that his views have already been refuted. Overall there is not enough evidence in to decide whether Chomsky or Quine have the correct theory of language acquisition. To this end, I will propose experiments which I arge will help solve the debate between both thinkers on this issue. Ultimately I argue that getting clear on whose theory is the correct one is vitally important because doing so will help us understand whose naturalistic theory of the nature of mind is correct.