Noam Chomsky famously overturned the behaviorist model of language learning by arguing that there was not enough time for a child to learn every word they use through conditioning. Stimulus and response models just could not explain the complexity of language use. Chomsky instead proposed that we were born with a “universal grammar” by which language could be adopted, like variable values in a computer program. This view has now also been largely rejected in light of empirical findings. Today, Tomasello’s “neo-Vygotskian” model of language learning is among approaches representing the state of the art in psychology and primatology, describing what separates humans from other animals in terms of processes of enculturation. However, Tomasello falls prey to a number of Cartesian assumptions, relying on an innate capacity to share intentional states. In this session, I attempt to overcome this Cartesianism by pursuing an alternative route through the work of Vygotsky, Ilyenkov and contemporary findings, particularly in the work of biological anthropologist Terrence Deacon. Full paper: https://philpapers.org/rec/POTVJT

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