Modem linguistics shares the delusion- the accurate term, I believe - that modern ‘behavioral sciences’ have in some essential respect achieved a transition from ‘speculation’ to ‘science’ …. Obviously any rational person will favour rigorous analysis and careful experiment; but to a considerable degree, I feel, the ‘behavioral sciences’ are merely mimicking the surface features of the natural sciences; much of their scientific character has been achieved by a restriction of subject matter and a concentration on rather peripheral issues.
Noam Chomsky, Language and Mind, 1968. (via philphys)
