Philosophical Implications of Generative Grammar

Since generative grammar was born a half-century ago, it has had a close relationship with analytic philosophy. This relationship has cut in two directions – philosophy has informed generative grammar, and generative grammar has provided evidence for certain philosophical positions. The result has been a kind of symbiotic relationship. In this chapter, I am going to look at the relationship in both directions, with examples of how philosophy has (mis)informed linguistics, and how linguistics has (mis)informed philosophy. I use the optional prefix mis - because sometimes philosophers have led linguists down paths to nowhere, and vice versa.