- Geoffrey Sampson
Geoffrey Sampson (1944,
Broxbourne ,Hertfordshire ) is Professor of Natural Language Computing in the Department ofInformatics ,University of Sussex ,England .He was educated at
Bristol Grammar School and graduated in Oriental studies fromSt John's College, Cambridge , followed by study atYale University in theLinguistics and Engineering & Applied Science departments. [http://www.grsampson.net/Career.html Biography] , official website]His academic career has included work in
Oriental languages ,linguistics andcomputing , with side interests inphilosophy and political and economic thought. He lectured at theLondon School of Economics , theUniversity of Lancaster and theUniversity of Leeds before moving to Sussex in 1991. *]He has most recently attracted attention for his academic criticism of the nativist movement in linguistics, represented by academics such as
Noam Chomsky ,Jerry Fodor andSteven Pinker . Sampson is particularly critical of Pinker's 1994 book "The Language Instinct ", which he has subjected to sustained commentary in his book "The 'Language Instinct' Debate", the first edition of which, published in 1997, was entitled "Educating Eve". According to Sampson, Pinker has not publicly addressed these criticisms. [ [http://www.grsampson.net/REmpNat.html Geoffrey Sampson: Empiricism v. Nativism ] ]Sampson was a Conservative member of
Wealden District Council (2001-2). He resigned this position after he was attacked by Labour Party and Liberal Democrat ministers and councillors for publishing on his website an article, "There's Nothing Wrong With Racism (Except the Name)", containing a number of racially sensitive claims. The outcome was subsequently endorsed by Conservative Central Office as "in the best interests of all concerned ...the Conservative party is opposed to all forms of racial discrimination". [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/race/story/0,,715354,00.html Tory councillor forced to step down after racism row] , Staff and agencies, "The Guardian", May 14, 2002]He has since left the Conservative Party and in 2006 joined the
United Kingdom Independence Party . [ [http://www.grsampson.net/Life.html Life] , official website]Publications authored
* Sampson, G: "The 'Language Instinct' Debate" (Continuum, 2004, ISBN 0-8264-7385)
References
External links
* [http://www.grsampson.net Official site]
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