Language, Science, and Structure

Reviews / Votes

A impressive achievement. Integrating work in the philosophy of science with wide-ranging knowledge of linguistic theory and contemporary cognitive science, this book provides both an evaluation of traditional debates within the philosophy of linguistics as well as a proposal for how it ought to be done in the future... This is a highly engaging book, rich with insight and packed with empirical and conceptual detail. Those working in philosophy of linguistics must read it, those in other areas merely should. * Gabriel Dupre, Philosophical Quarterly * Overall, Nefdt's book is an impressive tour de force, which will hopefully stimulate more interest in linguistics from philosophers of science. From a linguistic perspective, the book offers some conciliation against the apparent chaos of competing formalisms, but, more importantly, the reconceptualization of the subject matter could inform novel, and less isolationist, research programs in the field. * Adam James Ross Tallman, Philosophy of Science * Language, Science, and Structure by Ryan Nefdt mounts an impressive and noveldefense of a type of structuralism about both languages and linguistic entities likewords. * David Liebesman, De Gruyter * The book can be recommended to linguists who are striving to obtain an insight into the foundational problems of their discipline as well as to philosophers of science interested in general principles of scientific inquiry. It can provide both groups with an at least partial understanding of why several decades ago linguistics seemed to be one of the driving forces of scientific progress in the human sciences, the social sciences, the cognitive sciences as well as the computer sciences; why this impact eroded over the years; and why the author's approach might be evaluated as an attempt to assign linguistics a substantive role in shaping our knowledge of language, the mind and the formal tools describing them. * Andras Kertesz, Argumentum * ..the book is a great success, introducing a fresh perspective on the study of language that future researchers will be compelled to consider. * Christopher Viger, BJPS Review of Books * Nefdt's aim to marry realism and the spirit of pluralism is exciting, and in a landscape of diversifying approaches in the language sciences promises to be a highly fruitful approach to natural language ontology. This work rightly deserves to be considered a central text in a broader move towards characterizing philosophy of linguistics by the lights of the philosophy of science. It ought to be read by linguists and philosophers alike. * Kate Hazel Stanton, Analysis *