V61.0031 Form, Meaning and the Mind
Prof. Mark Baltin
Fall 2007
syllabus (pdf)
This course will focus on how the design of human language and the nature of the human mind have implications for one another. In particular, various cognitive scientists, notably Jerry Fodor, have argued that the mind is composed of various modules, or self-contained components. We will examine this view of the mind, and relate it to the question within formal linguistics of whether syntax determines meaning, or whether meaning determines syntax. The course is very much a hands-on course, and students will be asked to investigate the meanings of various verbs in various languages, with the idea of constructing a data-base of the languages studied to determine which aspects of a verb's behavior can be deduced universally from its meaning, and which aspects are peculiar to the individual language. The course requirements will be two short papers, and a term paper of about 15 pages.
Last Modified: March 23, 2007