Single Idea 20302

[catalogued under 19. Language / E. Analyticity / 1. Analytic Propositions]

Full Idea

The existence of a separate language faculty may be an odd but psychologically real fact about us, and it may thereby supply a real basis for commitments about not only what is or is not grammatical, but about what is a matter of natural language meaning.

Gist of Idea

An intrinsic language faculty may fix what is meaningful (as well as grammatical)

Source

Georges Rey (The Analytic/Synthetic Distinction [2013], 4.4)

Book Reference

'Stanford Online Encyclopaedia of Philosophy', ed/tr. Stanford University [plato.stanford.edu], p.13


A Reaction

This is the Chomskyan view of analytic sentences. An example from Chomsky (1977:142) is the semantic relationships of persuade, intend and believe. It's hard to see how the secret faculty on its own could do the job. Consensus is needed.