Russell (1961: 300):
On the other hand, the philosophy of Plotinus had the defect of encouraging men to look within rather than to look without: when we look within we see nous, which is divine, while when we look without we see the imperfections of the sensible world. This kind of subjectivity was a gradual growth: it is to be found in the doctrines of Protagoras, Socrates, Plato, as well as the Stoics and Epicureans. But at first it was only doctrinal, not temperamental; for a long time it failed to kill scientific curiosity. … Gradually, however, subjectivism invaded men's feelings as well as their doctrines. Science was no longer cultivated …
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Applying this to Chomskyan Formal Linguistics yields the following:
The Formal Linguistics of Chomsky had the defect of encouraging linguists to look within rather than to look without: when we look within we see the mind, which is Competence, while when we look without we see the imperfections of Performance.
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