Evolution of Language and Evolution of Cooperation

This thesis compares conceptions establishing linkage between the evolutionary descent of language and the aptitude for cooperation (primarily the glottogenetic theory of M. Tomasello) with nativist language theories of N. Chomsky and his supporters, within the framework of which the language is reduced to an abstract computational mechanism which function is thinking. Although the authors consider their theories as competing and fundamentally incompatible, in the thesis some parallels between them are revealed (e.g., the notion of “recursion” is of importance in both approaches, and the essential difference of this phenomenon in the theories of the opponents is not enough substantiated by them). The attempt is made to demonstrate opportunities for reciprocal usage of the both approaches’ findings for filling their lacunas. The possibility of constructing a language evolution scenario combining ideas of the competing theories is considered.