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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)

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.

Book Reference

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