The Religious Thoughts Of Plato In Formal Linguistics [1]

Russell (1961: 150):

We come now to the intellectual aspect of the religion which Plato (rightly or wrongly) attributes to Socrates.  We are told that the body is a hindrance in the acquisition of knowledge, and that sight and hearing are inaccurate witnesses: true existence, if revealed to the soul at all, is revealed in thought, not sense.  Let us consider, for a moment, the implications of this doctrine.  It involves a complete rejection of empirical knowledge, including all history and geography.

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This intellectual aspect of Plato's religion can be related to Chomskyan Formal Linguistics by rewording the above as follows:

True knowledge of language, if revealed to the linguist at all, is revealed through thought, not empirical data.