Abstract

This book surveys a wide range of structuralist theories, attempts to bring together features of those theories which are compatible with one another, and develops a general critique of the structuralist movement. Its analysis is not limited to a consideration of French structuralism, but includes earlier linguistic precursors and even Chomsky’s transformational theory. The author places his discussion of structuralism in a context which relates it to recent developments and discussions in the philosophy of science. The order of presentation is not historical but conceptual, and for this reason some readers will be surprised to find Saussure and Chomsky, rather than Levi-Strauss, providing the basis for a structuralist model.