Debate between American Philosophers H. Putnam and N. Chomsky on the Internal or Social Nature of Language
Debate between American Philosophers H. Putnam and N. Chomsky on the Internal or Social Nature of Language

Summary/Abstract: The topic of this article concerns the view on the philosophy of language of two leading American thinkers of the 20th century – N. Chomsky and H. Putnam, namely the divergence of their views on the proper approach to the study of language: semantic externalism and internalism. Firstly, N. Chomsky is famous as a linguist, who draws philosophical conclusions from his linguistic research background, thus immersing himself in the field of philosophy of language and philosophy of mind. His political activity can be considered as a separate type of intellectual activity. Secondly, H. Putnam is a philosopher of science, particularly the philosopher of physics, mathematics, logic, from the study of which he turns to the study of language. Thus, H. Putnam and N. Chomsky got there in the field of philosophy of language; their field of study covers philosophy, linguistics, and political science.

• Details
• Contents