Chapter 1
Fact, method and explanation
On the recalcitrant legacy of structuralism
Article outline
- 1.1Orientation
- 1.2Saussure’s firewall
- 1.3Structuralism and the philosophy of science
- 1.4The three dogmas of structuralism
- 1.4.1Arbitrariness
-
1.4.2Idealization: Langue vs. parole
- 1.4.3Segregation: Synchrony vs. diachrony
-
1.5Latter-day structuralism
- 1.6Explanatory biology: Aristotle revisited
- 1.7Synchrony as diachrony
-
1.7.1Example: The diachronic typology of passive constructions
- Type A
- Type B
- Type C
- Type D
- Type E
- Type F
- 1.7.2The diachronic provenance of synchronic structural properties
- 1.7.3Grammatical relations in the passive clause
- 1.8Closure
-
Notes
-
Abbreviations of grammatical terms