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Full Idea
Chomsky now contends that not only the syntax of natural language but also the concepts expressible in it have an innate basis.
Clarification
'Syntax' is sentence structure
Gist of Idea
Chomsky now says concepts are basically innate, as well as syntax
Source
report of Noam Chomsky (Chomsky on himself [1994]) by E.J. Lowe - Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind Ch.7 n25
Book Ref
Lowe,E.J.: 'Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind' [CUP 2000], p.188
A Reaction
This seems to follow Fodor, who has been mocked for implying that we have an innate idea of a screwdriver etc. Note that Chomsky says concepts have an innate 'basis'. This fits well with modern (cautious) rationalism, with which I am happy.
| 3631 | A blind man may still contain the idea of colour [Descartes] |
| 2273 | The ideas of God and of my self are innate in me [Descartes] |
| 2285 | I can think of innumerable shapes I have never experienced [Descartes] |
| 2286 | The idea of a supremely perfect being is within me, like the basic concepts of mathematics [Descartes] |
| 2601 | Qualia must be innate, because physical motions do not contain them [Descartes] |
| 2600 | The mind's innate ideas are part of its capacity for thought [Descartes] |
| 12471 | Innate ideas are nothing, if they are in the mind but we are unaware of them [Locke] |
| 8100 | Where does the bird's idea of a nest come from? [Joubert] |
| 6649 | Chomsky now says concepts are basically innate, as well as syntax [Chomsky, by Lowe] |
| 6650 | Fodor is now less keen on the innateness of concepts [Fodor, by Lowe] |
| 2492 | Experience can't explain itself; the concepts needed must originate outside experience [Fodor] |
| 11143 | If concept-learning is hypothesis-testing, that needs innate concepts to get started [Fodor, by Margolis/Laurence] |
| 12662 | We have an innate capacity to form a concept, once we have grasped the stereotype [Fodor] |
| 4997 | It seems unlikely that most concepts are innate, if a theory must be understood to grasp them [Kirk,R] |
| 18592 | The concepts OBJECT or AGENT may be innate [Machery] |