Eric Snyder - Is Knowledge of Successor Due to Knowledge of Morphosyntax?

Eric Snyder (Ashoka University)

The Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh invites you to join us for our Lunch Time Talk. Attend in person at 1117 Cathedral of Learning or visit our live stream on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.

LTT: Eric Snyder

Tuesday, October 1 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm EDT

Title: Is Knowledge of Successor Due to Knowledge of Morphosyntax?

Abstract:

Over the past few decades, number cognition researchers have paid extensive attention to how children acquire tacit knowledge of the notion of successor. Though different proposals exist, one widespread hypothesis is that such knowledge may be explained in terms of our linguistic capacities. In particular, many maintain what I call the Knowledge Thesis: Knowledge of successor is due to knowledge of natural language morphosyntax. The basic idea appears is that if one aims to explain knowledge of successor in terms of known cognitive resources, natural language morphosyntax is an especially plausible candidate since it, like the successor function, is recursive. This talk has a pair of aims. First, I critically assess two influential versions of KT: i) the Merge Model, defended by e.g. Noam Chomsky, and ii)  the Complex Cardinal Model, assumed or defended by Susan Carey, David Barner, and many others. I argue that as formulated, neither model provides an adequate explanation for how knowledge of successor is acquired. Specifically, while the Merge Model faces a version of Benacerraf (1965)’s Identification Problem, the Complex Cardinal Model requires the adoption of certain empirically untenable assumptions. The second aim of the talk is more constructive: appropriately formulated, a version of the Complex Cardinal Model can account for knowledge of successor, provided that children first acquiring the concept of number are folk Aristotelians in the following sense: the concept of number they acquire is both cardinal and potentialist in nature. 

This talk will also be available live streamed on:

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRp47ZMXD7NXO3a9Gyh2sg.