Thomas on discrete infinity (10/24)

The Discrete Infinity Argument is a central pillar of generative grammar. It posits that every natural language is an infinite set of finite structures. The argument rests on the observation that natural languages allow patterns such as (I know that you know that)+ John snores. I will contend that the discrete infinity argument

1. is an assumption rather than an empirical truth (problem of induction, cognitive finitism),
2. doesn’t establish the properties linguists want it to establish (in particular structural recursion),
3. has become empirically less viable as linguistic machinery has become more abstract over the years (e.g. nanosyntax).

This does not entail, however, that the general methodology built on top of the Discrete Infinity Argument is bunk. Generative grammar has arrived at the right conclusion for the wrong reason. I will present an alternative argument that does not need contentious assumptions such as the competence-performance distinction to motivate the generative methodology.