Knowledge and Mind Brook and Stainton Knowledge of Language英文电子书.pdf

Chapter 3 Knowledge of Language Theface ofa child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face. Jack Handey This book deals with two general issues: the nature of human knowledge and the nature of the mind, i.e., the thing that has the knowledge. Some of the topics we discuss fall squarely under knowledge (e.g., skepticism about the external world); other topics are mostly about the mind (e.g., the relationship between mind and body). Other issues in the text enter both domains.1 This is true of our next topic, knowledge of language. Though directly an issue of knowledge, it holds important implications for the nature of mind. It would be good to keep this element of overlap in mind as we go through the discussion. There are many places in which issues about language connect with issues in epistemology and philosophy of mind. Here we will focus on three: what knowledge of language is like, how it is acquired, and the re- lationship between language and thinking. Before beginning, a note on how to read this chapter. Many of the ideas introduced are mutually supporting. In fact, you may best be able to understand the parts if you first survey the whole. Thus, it may be best to read through the whole chapter once, not worrying too much about the details, and then reread each section slowly and carefully. 1 The Nature of : Knowledge Linguistic Language has been an object of study for a very long time. Indeed, both Plato and Aristotle (b. ca. 384 B.C.) wrote on language, as did the empiri- cists Hobbes and Locke. (See the suggested readings for specific sources.) In more recent times, however, there has been a veritable flood of work, especially on knowledge of language. One key figure in this recent theo- rizing is N oam Chomsky. 34