IQ issue

[William S. Lear]

On Fri, February 5, 1999 at 16:05:58 (+1100) rc-am writes:
>...
>there's something seriously amiss in the way chomsky approaches
>arguments such as these.  ...
>i think he wants to make a distinction between the formal rules of
>speech and the propositions/judgements, as if the formal rules
>themselves are a good thing and only need to be applied more
>rigorously, as if they can be (or should be) separated from the
>propositions themselves.
>
>at times, when I'm thinking of this as a kind of rhetorical strategy,
>that is, as a tactic to show the irrationality of what is deemed
>rational, i kinda enjoy it, like i expect a lot of people do.  but i
>don't think he's that cynical about it. i think he actually believes
>you can and should distinguish the form from the content, which is why
>he comes out with arguments like the above.  which shows that he
>really cannot come to terms with why so much 'irrationality' exists in
>the midst of 'rationality'  - he thinks they can be distinguished
>outside of rhetoric.

To what "formal rules" and "propositions/judgements" are you
referring?

If you mean his theory of universal grammar, I scarcely see how his
arguments concerning IQ have anything to do with it.  I also don't see
where Chomksy is "distinguish[ing] the form from the content".
Chomsky is not interested per se in the "form" of the argument, that
is, the logical relation amongst the component parts, he is merely
trying to get at the assumptions underpinning the argument.

I also don't understand what you mean by your claim that Chomsky
"thinks [rationality and irrationality] can be distinguished outside
of rhetoric".  We distinguish rationality and irrationality outside of
"rhetoric" (whatever that entails) all the time.  Try building a
bridge with irrational methods.  Try understanding how children
develop language with such methods.  Chomsky does not pretend to see
into the dark reaches of the human mind to tell us *why*
Murray/Herrnstein hold the beliefs that they do, merely that their
endeavor is that of racists, since it could only make a difference to
racists.

Bill