Preface to the second edition p. xi
Acknowledgments for the first edition p. xiii
Introduction p. 1
Chomsky''s achievement p. 1
On heroes and influences p. 4
1 The mirror of the mind p. 6
Linguistics as a science p. 7
The nature of idealization p. 10
Common sense p. 14
Modularity p. 15
Double dissociation p. 19
Modules and quasi-modules p. 23
Intelligence and "learning" p. 24
Competence and performance p. 25
Competence and grammar p. 26
Rules p. 27
I-language and E-language p. 28
Performance, parsing, and pragmatics p. 32
Parsing considerations p. 32
Pragmatic considerations p. 34
Competence and performance versus I-language and E-language p. 35
Evolution and innateness p. 36
Language acquisition p. 37
Poverty of the stimulus p. 38
Word meaning p. 39
Universals p. 40
Natural language and the language of thought p. 43
Summary p. 45
2 The linguistic foundation p. 46
Introduction p. 46
Knowledge of language p. 47
The lexicon p. 47
Knowledge of structure p. 49
Knowledge of structural relations p. 50
Levels of representation p. 53
Constituents and rules p. 54
Deep structure p. 56
Description versus explanation p. 58
From rules of principles p. 60
The elimination of PS rules p. 63
X-bar theory p. 64
Government and Binding theory p. 66
Binding theory p. 66
Locality p. 68
Theta theory p. 69
Case theory and government p. 70
Empty categories p. 73
The status of transformations p. 76
Principles and parameters p. 78
Lexical and functional categories p. 80
Minimalism p. 83
Economy p. 86
The elements of Minimalism p. 88
Perfect syntax p. 92
A historical progression p. 93
Evolution p. 94
3 Psychological reality p. 97
Causality and observability p. 99
Psychological reality and the nature of evidence p. 101
Intuitions p. 103
Language processing p. 109
The derivational theory of complexity p. 110
Grammars and parsers p. 112
Parsing problems p. 115
Economy p. 117
Language acquisition (Plato''s problem) p. 119
Teaching versus learning p. 119
Learning versus growing p. 120
Parameter setting p. 120
The critical period hypothesis p. 123
Maturation p. 126
Language pathology p. 129
Agenesis of the corpus callosum p. 129
The polyglot savant p. 130
Specific language impairment (SLI) p. 131
Connectionism: the behaviorists strike back p. 133
4 Philosophical realism: commitments and controversies p. 138
Commitments p. 138
Realism p. 138
I-language revisited p. 140
Representation and computation p. 141
Naturalism p. 142
Mentalism p. 144
Tacit knowledge p. 145
The mind-body problem p. 146
Controversies p. 147
Language and the world p. 147
Language and the community p. 150
Language and the individual p. 156
Problems of semantics p. 162
Innateness p. 167
Unification and reduction p. 173
Conclusions p. 175
5 Language and freedom p. 176
Explanation and dissent: the common threads p. 176
Relentless dissent p. 176
Common sense and theory p. 176
Rationality, modularity, and creativity p. 179
Rationality p. 179
Modularity p. 181
Malleability and plasticity p. 182
Creativity p. 184
The anarchist background p. 185
The Encyclopedistes p. 188
The critique of (American) foreign policy p. 189
Vietnam p. 191
East Timor p. 192
9-11: terrorism and the "war on terror" p. 194
The critique of domestic policy p. 197
Pig farming in Haiti p. 198
Drug trafficking p. 199
The critique of media control p. 200
Murder p. 202
Third world elections p. 202
The treason of the intellectuals p. 203
The technique of dissection p. 204
The exposure of warped perspective p. 205
The exposure of suppressed precursor events p. 206
The exposure of debased language p. 207
Moral absolutes and options for the future p. 209
The Faurisson affair p. 209
Islamic fundamentalism p. 210
Authority p. 212
The positive program p. 212
Conclusion p. 214
Envoi p. 216
Notes p. 217
Bibliography p. 248
Index p. 276
