Battle in the mind fields Frontmatter Contents Preface Chapter 1. Battle in the Mind Fields Chapter 2. The Nineteenth Century and Language Chapter 3. Philosophy and Logic in the Nineteenth Century Chapter 4. The Mind Has a Body: Psychology and Intelligent Machines in the Nineteenth Century Chapter 5. Psychology 1900–1940 Chapter 6. American Linguistics 1900–1940 Chapter 7. Philosophy 1900–1940 Chapter 8. Logic 1900–1940 Chapter 9. European Structuralism 1920–1940 Chapter 10. Conclusions and Prospects Notes References Index “We frequently see one idea appear in one discipline as if it were new when it migrated from another discipline like a mole that had dug under a fence and popped up on the other side.” Taking note of this phenomenon John Goldsmith and Bernard Laks embark on a uniquely interdisciplinary history of the genesis of linguistics from nineteenth century currents of thought in the mind sciences through to the origins of structuralism and the ruptures both political and intellectual in the years leading up to World War II. Seeking to explain where contemporary ideas in linguistics come from and how they have been justified Battle in the Mind Fields investigates the porous interplay of concepts between psychology philosophy mathematical logic and linguistics. Goldsmith and Laks trace theories of thought self consciousness and language from the machine age obsession with mind and matter to the development of analytic philosophy behaviorism Gestalt psychology positivism and structural linguistics emphasizing throughout the synthesis and continuity that has brought about progress in our understanding of the human mind. Arguing that it is impossible to understand the history of any of these fields in isolation Goldsmith and Laks suggest that the ruptures between them arose chiefly from social and institutional circumstances rather than a fundamental disparity of ideas