The dispute between rationalism and empiricism concerns the extent to which we are dependent upon sense experience in our effort to gain knowledge. Rationalists claim that there are significant ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience. Empiricists claim that sense experience is the ultimate source of all our concepts and knowledge.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Linguistics turned computational with Chomsky. He tried to formulate a mathematical definition of language as such: a ‘‘computational’’ account, in the abstract sense later stressed by David Marr. His work, including a pioneering paper on computer languages, encouraged others to persevere with, or to embark on, the computer modelling of language. But he himself didn’t join them. He was highly skeptical about … natural language processing.
Margaret Boden
Assignment
As preparation for class watch the following three videos (2 + 7 + 45 min.)
- Watch the following video that briefly summarizes the Noam Chomsky’s moment in intellectual history (2 min).
- Watch the following interview of Chomsky discussing the structure of language (7 min).
- Watch this longer and deeper BBC interview focusing on Chomsky’s ideas (45 min).
Further Reading and Watching
- Section 9.vi (Major Tranformations, pp. 627-638) of this book chapter summarizing Chomsky’s transformation of linguistics: Boden (2006). Ch 9, Transforming Linguistics. In: Mind As Machine: A History of Cognitive Science [Readings]
- “The Author of the Acacia Seeds and Other Extracts from the Journal of the Association of Therolinguistics” by Ursula LeGuin. [Readings]
- “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell
Watch the documentary “Whistles in the Mist: Whistled Speech in Oaxaca.”
Computational Neuroscience 