Noam Chomsky

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Noam Chomsky bigraphy, stories - linguist, psychologist, and activist

Noam Chomsky : biography

December 7, 1928 –

Avram Noam Chomsky ( born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher,, by Zoltán Gendler Szabó, in Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, 1860–1960, ed. Ernest Lepore (2004). "Chomsky’s intellectual life had been divided between his work in linguistics and his political activism, philosophy coming as a distant third. Nonetheless, his influence among analytic philosophers has been enormous because of three factors. First, Chomsky contributed substantially to a major methodological shift in the human sciences, turning away from the prevailing empiricism of the middle of the twentieth century: behaviorism in psychology, structuralism in linguistics and positivism in philosophy. Second, his groundbreaking books on syntax (Chomsky (1957, 1965)) laid a conceptual foundation for a new, cognitivist approach to linguistics and provided philosophers with a new framework for thinking about human language and the mind. And finally, he has persistently defended his views against all takers, engaging in important debates with many of the major figures in analytic philosophy…"The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy (1999), "Chomsky, Noam," Cambridge University Press, pg. 138. "Chomsky, Noam (born 1928), preeminent American linguist, philosopher, and political activist… Many of Chomsky’s most significant contributions to philosophy, such as his influential rejection of behaviorism… stem from his elaborations and defenses of the above consequences…" cognitive scientist, logician,. Viewed July 15, 2012.. Viewed July 15, 2012. political critic, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. In addition to his work in linguistics, he has written on war, politics, and mass media, and is the author of over 100 books. Between 1980 and 1992, Chomsky was cited within the field of Arts and Humanities more often than any other living scholar, and eighth overall within the Arts and Humanities Citation Index during the same period.

He has been described as a prominent cultural figure, and was voted the "world's top public intellectual" in a 2005 poll. 

Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics"Thomas Tymoczko, Jim Henle, James M. Henle, Sweet Reason: A Field Guide to Modern Logic, Birkhäuser, 2000, p. 101. and a major figure of analytic philosophy. His work has influenced fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computer science, logic, mathematics, political science, programming language theory and psychology. He is credited as the creator or co-creator of the Chomsky hierarchy, the universal grammar theory, and the Chomsky–Schützenberger theorem.

After the publication of his first books on linguistics, Chomsky became a prominent critic of the Vietnam War, and since then has continued to publish books of political criticism. He has become well known for his critiques of U.S. foreign policy,, Publishers Weekly, 5-5-03. Retrieved 05-03-11. "Chomsky’s controversial political works…became mainstream bestsellers." state capitalism and the mainstream news media. His media criticism has included Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), co-written with Edward S. Herman, an analysis articulating the propaganda model theory for examining the media. He describes his views as "fairly traditional anarchist ones, with origins in the Enlightenment and classical liberalism,"Chomsky (1996), pp. 71. and often identifies with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism.: "Chomsky is not a communist and does not admire any of the communist regimes."

Debates

Chomsky has been known to vigorously defend and debate his views and opinions, in philosophy, linguistics (Linguistics Wars), and politics. He has had notable debates with Jean Piaget,Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini, ed., Language and Learning: The Debate Between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky, Routledge, 1975. Michel Foucault, William F. Buckley, Jr.,, YouTube Christopher Hitchens,Christopher Hitchens, "", The Nation, September 24, 2001Christopher Hitchens, "", The Nation, 2001Noam Chomsky, "", The Nation, 2001Christopher Hitchens, "", The Nation, 2001Noam Chomsky, "", The Nation, 2001 George Lakoff, Richard Perle,, YouTube Hilary Putnam,, Harvard University, 2007. Willard Quine,KU Leuven, , October 2003. John Maynard Smith, and Alan Dershowitz,, Democracy Now!, December 23, 2005. to name a few. The Guardian said of Chomsky’s debating ability, "His boldness and clarity infuriates opponents—academe is crowded with critics who have made twerps of themselves taking him on." In response to his speaking style being criticized as boring, Chomsky said, "I’m a boring speaker and I like it that way. … I doubt that people are attracted to whatever the persona is. … People are interested in the issues, and they’re interested in the issues because they are important." "We don’t want to be swayed by superficial eloquence, by emotion and so on."Chomsky, Noam. , January 20, 1999 Chomsky.info