Conference on Functionalism and Formalism in Current Linguistics, Milwaukee, April 18-20, 1996

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Current trends in linguistics differ from each other in several ways; nonetheless, many of the differences have polarized around two persuasions known as the formalist approach and the functionalist approach. The two directions are assumed by most to be mutually exclusive and in competition. As a result, practitioners of each approach have been working in relative isolation from those of the opposite trend, with instances of cross-fertilization or even attempts at clarifying the critical issues few and far between. Divisiveness within a field of inquiry is counterproductive; if the rift is underlain by differences whose nature has not been fully enunciated and examined, it is doubly so. The proposed conference on functionalism and formalism in linguistics directly addresses this aspect of the current state of the field by adopting two central goals. One is to lay out a small set of basic parameters in terms of which the basic assumptions of each approach can be explicated and contrasted. The clarification of the similarities and differences between the two approaches provides the grounds for addressing our second objective: to assess the extent to which the two approaches are compatible and to explore ways in which insights of one approach may benefit the other. Given that the formalism-functionalism dichotomy is a meaningful one in other areas of humanities and social sciences as well, the results of the conference may contribute to the rapprochement of the two directions both inside and outside linguistics.