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    Carmelics

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Two theories differ fundamentally when they disagree on the type, not merely degree, of innate endowment required—Tomasello and Chomsky disagree on exactly this point.

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    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.The type/degree distinction itself is fuzzy: a sufficiently different degree of domain-specificity may functionally constitute a 'type' difference without ontological clarity.
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    • 2.Both theorists might agree on core capacities (recursion, abstraction, social learning) while disagreeing on their integration—making the disagreement less fundamental than claimed.
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    • 3.Empirical evidence cannot cleanly vindicate either position, suggesting the 'fundamental' contrast is partly terminological rather than genuinely substantive.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Chomsky posits universal grammar as a domain-specific module; Tomasello emphasizes general cognitive abilities—these are categorically different endowments.
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    • 2.Degree disagreements concern quantity (more/less of same capacity); type disagreements concern kind (symbolic vs. usage-based mechanisms)—they clearly differ on kind.
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    • 3.Their predictions diverge fundamentally: Chomsky predicts universal structural principles across languages; Tomasello predicts language variation from identical general cognition.
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