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Home , Scott Atran

Language and Learning The Debate between and

Edited by MASSIMO PIATTELLI-PALMARINI

Routledge & Kegan Paul London and Henley CONTENTS

PREFACE Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini xiii FOREWORD xix INTRODUCTION 1 Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini: How Hard Is the "Hard Core" of a Scientific Program!

PART I The Debate 1. OPENING THE DEBATE 23 £> Jean Piaget The Psychogenesis of Knowledge and Its Epistemological Significance -%$£ Noam Chomsky On Cognitive Structures and Their Development: A Reply to Piaget 2. ABOUT THE FIXED NUCLEUS AND ITS INNATENESS 55 £> Jean Piaget Introductory Remarks Discussion by Francois Jacob, Jean Piaget, Jean-Pierre Changeux, Stephen Toulmin, Noam Chomsky, Anthony Wilden Guy Cellerier Cognitive Strategies in Problem Solving Discussion by Noam Chomsky, Massimo Piattelli- Palmarini, , Antoine Danchin, Jerry Fodor, , Guy Cellerier, Jean Piaget, Francois Jacob, Scott Atran Guy Cellerier Some Clarifications on Innatism and Constructivism 3. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND GENERAL DEVELOPMENTAL MECHANISMS 89 Seymour Papert The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Discussion by Noam Chomsky, Seymour Papert, Scott Atran

IX x / Contents

4. INITIAL STATES AND STEADY STATES 107 Noam Chomsky The Linguistic Approach Discussion by Anthony Wilden, Noam Chomsky, Seymour Papert, Dieter Diitting, David Premack, Dan Sperber 5. COGNITIVE SCHEMES AND THEIR POSSIBLE RELATIONS TO LANGUAGE ACQUISITION 131 Barbel Inhelder Language and Knowledge in a Constructivist Framework Discussion by Noam Chomsky, Seymour Papert, Jerry Fodor, Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, Barbel Inhelder, 6. ON THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF ACQUIRING "MORE POWERFUL" STRUCTURES 142 Jerry Fodor Fixation of Belief and Concept Acquisition Discussion by Seymour Papert, Jerry Fodor, Jean Piaget, Anthony Wilden, Dieter Diitting, Jacques Monod, Noam Chomsky, Scott Atran 7. LANGUAGE WITHIN COGNITION 163 —-p Jean Piaget Schemes of Action and Language Learning Discussion by Noam Chomsky, Jean Piaget, Barbel Inhelder, Jerry Fodor, Seymour Papert, Dan Sperber, David Premack, Jacques Monod, Stephen Toulmin .8. PROPERTIES OF THE NEURONAL NETWORK 184 Jean-Pierre Changeux Genetic Determinism and Epigenesis of the Neuronal Network: Is There a Biological Compromise between Chomsky and Piaget! Discussion by Jean Piaget, Dieter Diitting, Jean-Pierre Changeux, Jacques Monod, Noam Chomsky 9. INTERSPECIES COMPARISONS OF COGNITIVE ABILITIES 203 David Premack Representational Capacity and Accessibility of Knowledge: The Case of Chimpanzees Discussion by Gregory Bateson, David Premack, Maurice Godelier, Seymour Papert, Scott Atran, Norbert Bischof, Anthony Wilden Contents I xi

10. PHYLOGENESIS AND COGNITION 231 Norbert Bischof Remarks on Lorenz and Piaget: How Can "Working Hypotheses" Be "Necessary"! Comments by Jean Piaget 11. COGNITION AND THE SEMIOTIC FUNCTION 244 Dan Sperber Remarks on the Lack of Positive Contributions from Anthropologists to the Problem of Innateness Discussion by Seymour Papert, Dan Sperber, Noam Chomsky, David Premack, Jerry Fodor 12. THE INDUCTIVIST FALLACY 255 Noam Chomsky and Jerry Fodor Statement of the Paradox Discussion by Thomas de Zengotita, Noam Chomsky, Gregory Bateson, David Premack, Seymour Papert, Jerry Fodor 13. AFTERTHOUGHTS AND CLARIFICATIONS 276 Stephen Toulmin Steering a Way between Constructivism and Innatism .—p Jean Piaget Afterthoughts

PART II Comments on the Debate 14. Hilary Putnam What Is Innate and Why: Comments on the Debate 287 15. Noam Chomsky Discussion of Putnam's Comments 310 16. Jerry Fodor Reply to Putnam 325 17. Hilary Putnam Comments on Chomsky's and Fodor's Replies 335 Jacques Mehler Psychology and Psycholinguistics: The Impact of Chomsky and Piaget 341 APPENDIX A 355 Antoine Danchin A Critical Note on the Use of the Term "Phenocopy" APPENDIX B 361 Rene Thom The Genesis of Representational Space according to Piaget Jean Piaget Reply to Thom xii / Contents

APPENDIX C 371 Jean Petitot Localist Hypothesis and Theory of Catastrophes: Note on the Debate NOTES 380 INDEX 399