ABSTRACT
It is barely conceivable that anyone should set out to study the mind or language without trying to find out what the science of those subjects has to say about them. This is not because science answers all the legitimate questions: many philosophical issues may remain when all the empirical findings are in. But one would expect that an adequate philosophical explanation of linguistic or mental phenomena ought, at least, to be compatible with what the best-attested science has to say about those phenomena. So it is surprising, to say the least, that some philosophers regard themselves as entitled to turn their backs on relevant branches of science be they linguistics, psychology or neuroscience.
