Realism Vs. Conceptualism in Linguistics

Résumé du livre

Abstract: "Linguistic conceptualism claims that the reality of natural language is psychological; linguistic realism claims that it is abstract. In realist terms, sentences are abstract objects, hence lack all spatial, temporal and causal properties. The present paper evaluates the relative merits of these conflicting positions, concentrating on N. Chomsky's recent criticisms of realism and defenses of conceptualism. It shows that none of these criticisms is successful and that, on the contrary, the objections to conceptualism reveal fundamental difficulties. Several arguments show the literal inconsistency of Chomsky's conceptualist position. It is argued that most of the objections to Chomsky's conceptualism generalize to conceptualism as such."