Conclusion

Amy E. Varela

pp. 167-176

in: Mieszko Talasiewicz, Philosophy of syntax, Berlin, Springer, 2010

Abstract

The Philosophy of Syntax is a work dedicated to the analysis of fundamental intuitions about the theory of natural language syntax taken as a tool for referring to the world and describing its phenomena. The analysis is based on two main assumptions. First, it is assumed that important aspects of language, in particular of its syntax, owe their emergence to the way in which it has been acquired . The theory of syntax, which like any other theory is only an idealization, may abstract away from a number of well-established aspects of language, which would only make the general picture unclear, but cannot disregard the way in which language can be acquired (what are the sources of information about language for someone who does not speak any language yet).