Concept Nativism and Neural Plasticity

One of the most important recent developments in the study of concepts has been the resurgence of interest in nativist accounts of the human conceptual system. However, many theorists suppose that a key feature of neural organization—the brain’s plasticity—undermines the nativist approach to concept acquisition. In this chapter, we will argue that, while this view of the matter has an initial air of plausibility, it gets things exactly backwards. Not only does the brain’s plasticity fail to undermine concept nativism, but a detailed examination of the neurological evidence actually provides powerful support for concept nativism, giving rise to what we call the argument from neural wiring. The brain is most definitely an organ that is altered by experience, but as we will see, the ways in which it is altered support a nativist perspective on cognitive architecture.