ABSTRACT
The Minimalist Program proposed in Chomsky (1995d) radically alters the foundations of syntactic theory by reformulating several fundamental theoretical constructs (e.g., involving phrase structure and transformations) as well as placing severe methodological restrictions on what tools and mechanisms might be employed in the construction of syntactic analyses. To a large extent, the reformulation of constructs is driven by methodological requirements-especially the assumption that all constructs must meet a criterion of conceptual necessity, the Ockham’s razor of the Minimalist Program. This paper attempts to sketch the ramifications of this and other assumptions of the Minimalist Program as they apply to a theory of binding. In particular, the discussion will focus on the effects of minimalist assumptions on the standard version of Binding Theory within the Principles and Parameters framework (Chomsky 1981; Chomsky & Lasnik 1993; Freidin 1994a). As in other areas of syntactic investigation, minimalist assumptions lead to a radical revision of the standard theory that has been in use for over a decade.
