"Universal laws about human language and culture are impossible"
Ah, but the above is a universal law, so it's self refuting!
Therefore, universal laws about human language are possible.
Checkmate, skeptics!
Anyone who actually thinks that is not just uncharitable, unproductively pedantic and arguing semantics, they're also wrong.
But OK, to satisfy them, we could say that, yes, universal laws about human language are indeed possible, and there is one such law. Let's label it "The Universal Law About Human Language".
It states
"The only universal law about human language is that there are no universal laws about human language (other than The Universal Law About Human Language)"
It even has recursion! (pun intended) So I guess us skeptics will also have to admit defeat that recursion is in fact universal...
You seem to think epistemology is trivial for some reason? Also why do you think universal laws about human language would be impossible, so far you haven't talked about why at all ...
I don't think it's trivial, I just think it's often applied in an unproductive and straight up incorrect way, devolving any discussion into uncharitable, pedantic, needless and pointless arguing about semantics.
I would happily grant there are more laws about human language. You could come up with all kinds of pointless truisms like "human languages facilitate communication" etc. No reasonable person would find much point in coming up with or debating "laws" like that. (but I'm sure there are plenty of "epistemologists" and "philosophers" who could debate them in minute detail until the end of time)
But Chomsky isn't claiming obvious truisms - he's claiming fairly detailed laws about universal grammar (and fairly detailed means through which they derive)
Critics point out such fairly strong claims need fairly strong, in your face evidence. The onus is on Chomsky to provide it. You don't get to turn around and shift the burden of proof on the critics and start arguing nonsense about how criticism of Chomsky's claims are "self refuting" or what have you.
Ah, but the above is a universal law, so it's self refuting!
Therefore, universal laws about human language are possible.
Checkmate, skeptics!
Anyone who actually thinks that is not just uncharitable, unproductively pedantic and arguing semantics, they're also wrong.
But OK, to satisfy them, we could say that, yes, universal laws about human language are indeed possible, and there is one such law. Let's label it "The Universal Law About Human Language".
It states
"The only universal law about human language is that there are no universal laws about human language (other than The Universal Law About Human Language)"
It even has recursion! (pun intended) So I guess us skeptics will also have to admit defeat that recursion is in fact universal...