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Observing
 
Language,
 
Observing
 
Linguistics
 
Toward
 
a
 
Biological
 
Systems
 
Epistemology
 
of
 
Languaging
 
Kensy
 
Cooperrider
 
Duke
 
University
 
May
 
2003
 
 
2
 
Contents
 
Introduction:
 
Genesis
 
and
 
Ontogeny
 
of
 
a
 
Senior
 
Thesis
 
3
 
1
 
The
 
Chomskyan
 
Turn:
 
Universal
 
Grammar
 
and
 
the
 
Roots
 
of
 
Cognitivism
 
9
 
2
 
Negotiating
 
Universal
 
Grammar
 
24
 
2.1
 
Derek
 
Bickerton:
 
From
 
Proto
‐
Language
 
to
 
Language
 
25
 
2.2
 
Terrence
 
W.
 
Deacon:
 
The
 
Fit
 
of
 
Language
 
to
 
the
 
Brain
 
27
 
2.3
 
Philip
 
Lieberman:
 
Language
 
and
 
Petty
 
Bureaucrats
 
30
 
2.4
 
Steven
 
Pinker:
 
The
 
Language
 
Instinct
 
and
 
Human
 
Nature
 
33
 
3
 
Biological
 
Systems
 
Theory
 
and
 
Cognition:
 
An
 
Alternative
 
Epistemology
 
40
 
3.1
 
Cognitive
 
Constructivism:
 
The
 
View
 
from
 
Somewhere
 
42
 
3.2
 
Embodiment:
 
Distributed
 
Cognition
 
and
 
the
 
Fusion
 
of
 
Knowing
 
and
 
Doing
 
50
 
3.3
 
Embeddedness:
 
The
 
Interdependence
 
of
 
Organism
 
and
 
Environment
 
58
 
3.4
 
Reconsidering
 
Representationalism:
 
Phenomenological
 
Domains
 
and
 
the
 
Observer
 
65
 
4
 
Languaging
 
and
 
Being:
 
A
 
Biological
 
Systems
 
View
 
of
 
Language
 
73
 
4.1
 
Language
 
as
 
Effective
 
Action
 
75
 
4.2
 
Rules
 
and
 
Reifications:
 
Observing
 
the
 
Languaging
 
System
 
77
 
4.3
 
Outline
 
of
 
a
 
New
 
Ontogeny
 
of
 
Language
 
89
 
4.4
 
Reframing
 
Phylogeny:
 
What
 
Evolved?
 
96
 
5
 
Conceptual
 
Tastes
 
and
 
Disciplinary
 
Dynamics:
 
Some
 
Observations
 
101
 
References
 
109
 
 
 
3
Introduction:
 
Genesis
 
and
 
Ontogeny
 
of
 
a
 
Senior
 
Thesis
 
I
 
first
 
 began
 
thinking
 
about
 
the
 
issues
 
explored
 
in
 
this
 
paper
 
during
 
my
 
sophomore
 
year
 
in
 
a
 
“Philosophy
 
of
 
Mind”
 
course
 
taught
 
 by
 
David
 
Sanford.
 
After
 
a
 
semester
 
spent
 
discussing
 
the
 
problem
 
of
 
other
 
minds
 
and
 
the
 
ghost
 
in
 
the
 
machine,
 
the
 
class
 
culminated
 
in
 
a
 
term
 
paper
 
in
 
which
 
I
 
argued
 
against
 
 Jerry
 
Fodor’s
 
“Language
 
of
 
Thought”
 
hypothesis
 
(Fodor
 
1975)
 
and
 
its
 
latter
‐
day
 
incarnation,
 
Steven
 
Pinker’s
 
“Mentalese”
 
(Pinker
 
1994).
 
I
 
can
 
admit
 
now
 
to
 
having
 
had
 
strong
 
reservations
 
about
 
challenging
 
these
 
formidable
 
thinkers—
 
after
 
all,
 
among
 
other
 
impressive
 
credentials,
 
 both
 
had
 
worked
 
in
 
close
 
intellectual
 
quarters
 
with
 
Noam
 
Chomsky
 
at
 
MIT.
 
A
 
little
 
daunted,
 
I
 
nevertheless
 
chose
 
to
 
turn
 
their
 
central
 
thesis
 
on
 
its
 
head:
 
the
 
language
 
of
 
thought,
 
I
 
wrote,
 
is
 
an
 
internalized
 
version
 
of
 
external
 
natural
 
language—
 
not
 
the
 
innate
 
linguaform
 
symbol
 
system
 
from
 
which
 
all
 
natural
 
languages
 
are
 
derived,
 
as
 
Fodor
 
and
 
Pinker
 
have
 
argued.
 
By
 
formulating
 
my
 
argument
 
along
 
these
 
lines,
 
I
 
managed
 
to
 
simply
 
rearrange
 
the
 
terms
 
of
 
the
 
“Language
 
of
 
Thought”
 
hypothesis
 
(natural
 
language,
 
language
 
of
 
thought,
 
internal,
 
external,
 
etc.)
 
without
 
anywhere
 
questioning
 
the
 
nature
 
or
 
utility
 
of
 
the
 
concepts
 
to
 
which
 
they
 
refer.
 
Coarse
‐
grained
 
and
 
lumpy
 
as
 
such
 
a
 
treatment
 
seems
 
to
 
me
 
from
 
the
 
vantage
 
of
 
the
 
present,
 
it
 
marked
 
the
 
genesis
 
of
 
my
 
engagement
 
with
 
questions
 
about
 
the
 
nature
 
of
 
linguistic
 
knowledge
 
and
 
the
 
relation
 
 between
 
insides
 
and
 
outsides,
 
questions
 
that
 
are
 
conspicuously
 
thematized
 
in
 
this
 
paper.
 
My
 
next
 
encounter
 
with
 
these
 
issues
 
came
 
the
 
spring
 
of
 
my
 
 junior
 
year
 
in
 
a
 
seminar
 
taught
 
 by
 
 Julie
 
Tetel,
 
informally
 
titled
 
“Epistemologies”.
 
Our
 
first
 
text
 
for
 
the
 
of 00

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