Chomsky Agonistes

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of Noam Chomsky’s current linguistic framework, the Minimalist Program, and the evolutionary milieu in which it is now mostly plied, including the linguistic implications of FOXP2, often called “the language gene” in popular media. The chapter also tackles the most touchy and slippery psychobiographical issue in the field of linguistics over the course of Chomsky’s lengthy and influential career: his rhetorical tactics, especially in connection with the truth. Chomsky has been widely accused of dishonesty, misrepresentation, and, in George Lakoff’s terms “fighting dirty,” as well as being venerated and defended just as widely. I examine that claim with respect to yet another Chomskyan tempest, the dispute over Daniel Everett’s claim that the language Pirahã does not exhibit recursion, a property that seems to be required by Chomsky's Universal Grammar, and through a close reading of an exchange over the existence of grammatical rules with philosopher and early Chomsky supporter, John Searle. Finally, it sifts through Chomsky’s record and the current state of the field to speculate about Chomsky’s legacy.