Paradigm, Perspective and Attitude: On Lakoff on Jackendoff (2007)

In this commentary, I discuss Lakoff's review of Jackendoff (2007), published in the science magazine American Scientist in 2008.Providing relevant academic background, I briefly discuss the notion of functionalism and the symbol-manipulation paradigm in Cognitive Science, and point out certain difficulties in Jackendoff's application of the paradigm.It is argued that researchers in China should appreciate from Lakoff's review at least two important ingredients in linguistic research practice, namely, the cognitive science perspective and the critical attitude.