Explores questions such as: what does it mean to say that linguistics is part of the cognitive sciences; how do the core properties of language compare with the core properties of other human cognitive abilities such as vision, music, mathematics, and other mental building blocks; a
Trade Review
"Amongst the book's strengths, particularly commendable are the connections made to other cognitive domains and the biological sciences." (The Linguist, July 2010)
"Although each subsection is brief, the author includes chapter-by-chapter notes of cited material at the end of the text. The motivated reader will have no trouble tracking down the primary sources that the author discusses." (PsycCRITIQUES, March 2010)
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Prologue xi
Part I Ever Since Chomsky 1
1 Mind Matters: Chomsky’s Dangerous Idea 3
2 The Mechanization of the Mind Picture 14
3 How the Mind Grows: From Meno to Noam 41
Part II Unweaving the Sentence 55
4 Mental Chemistry 57
5 The Variety of Linguistic Experience: The Towers of Babel and Pisa 82
6 All Roads Lead to Universal Grammar 95
Part III The Mental Foundations of Behavior 109
7 Making Sense of Meaning: An Instruction Manual 111
8 Wonderful Mental Life: Unthinkable without Language 120
9 Grammar Caught in the Act 133
Part IV Missing Links 147
10 The (Mis)Measure of Mind 149
11 Homo Combinans 163
12 Computational Organology 173
Epilogue 183
Notes 189
Guide to Further Study 211
References 219
Index 242
