Two conceptions of language: Wittgenstein and Chomsky on recursion as a “good” explanation of human nature

Abstract

My major aim in this paper is to discuss whether the property of recursion provides a good explanation of human specificity. In so doing, I will analyze two approaches to the study of natural language: the computational and the anthropological conceptions. The main conclusion of this work is twofold. On the one hand, I argue that recursion is not a good explanation of human essence. On the other hand, what is, indeed, specifically human is the construction of a mythology with a metaphysical slant, in this particular case, in the guise of the language of science.