Lakoff on Linguistics and Natural Logic. AIM-170

The paper examines and criticises Lakoff's notions of a natural logic
and of a generative semantics described in terms of logic, I argue
that the relationship of these notions to logic as normally
understood is unclear, but I suggest, in the course of the paper, a
number of possible interpretations of his thesis of generative
semantics. I argue further that on these interpretations a mere
notational variant of Chomskyan theory, I argue, too, that Lakoff's
work may provide a service in that it constitutes a reductio ad
absurdum of the derivational paradigm of modern linguistics; and
shows, inadvertently, that only a system with the ability to
reconsider its own inferences can do the job that Lakoff sets up for
linguistic enquirey -- that is to say, only an "artificial
intelligence" system.