Theorizing about Syntax: Independent Thinking and Motivated Reasoning

Taking a new look at some widely accepted analyses of such syntactic patterns as minimality, head-movement, and LF, this book offers alternative theories while still working within the general Universal Grammar framework. It is the first of its kind to present an explicit and candid examination of how Motivated Reasoning (MR), the psychological tendency to substitute emotional reward for cold reasoning, affects the formulation and assessment of new ideas. Actual cases are used to illustrate the role of MR in the (subconscious) collection and interpretation of language data, and the association of such practices with theorization. It is also highlighted that the relation between MR and independent thinking is a double-edged sword, capable of either suppressing ideas not 'to one's taste' or facilitating the formulation of new ideas unique to each individual researcher. Covering a range of technical and meta-theoretical topics, this book is essential reading for theoretical syntacticians.

Yafei Li is Professor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Distinguished Professor of Linguistics at Jiangsu Normal University. His publications include Universal Grammar and Iconicity (Cambridge University Press, 2022), The Syntax of Chinese (with Huang and Li, Cambridge University Press, 2009) and X0: A Theory of the Morphology-Syntax Interface (MIT Press, 2005).