The problem with logic in the logical problem of language acquisition

This paper discusses the motivation behind the nativist position with respect to linguistic knowledge. In particular, the discussion focusses on the argument from the "poverty of the stimulus", which is generally assumed to be the most important argument in favor of a nativist position. On the basis of current views on human reasoning and learning, we will argue that the logical (i.e., non-empirical) part of the poverty of the stimulus argument is invalid. This result substantially weakens the nativist position, although it does not imply that the assumption that there must exist a certain amount of innate domain-specific knowledge has to be abandoned altogether.

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