Theiling Online    Sitemap    Conlang Mailing List HQ   

Re: OFF-TOPIC: Non linguistics books by Chomsky

From:John Cowan <cowan@...>
Date:Sunday, May 23, 2004, 6:27
Thomas R. Wier scripsit:

> > You can easily find American yahoos who will denounce > > Chomskyan linguistics, and indeed linguistics generally, as a criminal > > enterprise on the strength of Chomsky's political opinions. > > In my experience, the vast majority of people who have any > opinion about Chomsky's views on linguistics whatsoever are > people highly trained in linguistic methodologies, if not > actually professional linguists themselves. [...]
I was referring to the following styles of argument: 1) Chomsky is a Commie; 2) His linguistics must be Commie linguistics (like Lysenkoism). 1) Chomsky is a Commie; 2) He is the most important linguist in America; 3) Linguistics must be pseudo-science altogether. I have encountered these both personally and on Web sites. (I choose "Commie" as a clearly derogatory term for a leftist, not because his detractors actually use that word -- though Google confirms that some do.)
> > I agree with most of what he says (as opposed to what he is *said* > > to have said),
To clarify, I was talking about his political rather than his linguistic opinions.
> > but I find his prose style almost impenetrable. > > I think pretty much everyone will agree with you on this point,
See http://rubberducky.org/cgi-bin/chomsky.pl . -- "We are lost, lost. No name, no business, no Precious, nothing. Only empty. Only hungry: yes, we are hungry. A few little fishes, nassty bony little fishes, for a poor creature, and they say death. So wise they are; so just, so very just." --Gollum jcowan@reutershealth.com www.ccil.org/~cowan