WE ARE AT WAR!!!!!!! 04:19 Feb 13 0 comments Chelsea and the real war 02:58 Mar 13 0 comments Half of All Children (in US?) Will Be Autistic by 2025, Warns Senior Research Scientist at MIT 19:54 Dec 31 2 comments 9/11 After 13 years Paul Craig Roberts 22:42 Sep 15 3 comments The Latin pattern 15:51 Oct 06 0 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Anti-EmpireNorth Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi? Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi? Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi? ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi? US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty
The SakerA bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Lockdown Skeptics
News Round-Up Tue Dec 03, 2024 00:43 | Richard Eldred
Cost of Switching Off U.K. Wind Farms on Windy Days Hits ?Absurd? ?1 Billion Mon Dec 02, 2024 20:00 | Will Jones
David Starkey is Right That Blair Destroyed the British Constitution But Wrong About This Mon Dec 02, 2024 18:03 | James Alexander
Jaguar?s ?Barbie Pink? Electric Car Leaked Online Mon Dec 02, 2024 15:45 | Will Jones
Trump Asks if Biden Will Now Pardon the ?January 6th Hostages? After He Pardons Son Hunter Mon Dec 02, 2024 13:41 | Will Jones
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionVoltaire, International Newsletter N?110 Fri Nov 29, 2024 15:01 | en Verbal ceasefire in Lebanon Fri Nov 29, 2024 14:52 | en Russia Prepares to Respond to the Armageddon Wanted by the Biden Administration ... Tue Nov 26, 2024 06:56 | en Voltaire, International Newsletter N?109 Fri Nov 22, 2024 14:00 | en Joe Biden and Keir Starmer authorize NATO to guide ATACMS and Storm Shadows mis... Fri Nov 22, 2024 13:41 | en |
Noam Chomsky on Language Reassessed
international |
education |
other press
Sunday February 07, 2010 19:08 by John Cornford
Chris Knight examines Noam Chomsky’s ‘scientific’ fairy tales about language and its origins Prof Chris Knight of the Radical Anthropology Group really sticks the boot into Chomsky. He weighs Chomskys credentials in the balance and finds then wanting. Full text at link. Many in that Delhi audience still seemed puzzled. Why was Chomsky so ambivalent? Was he, perhaps, holding something back? His two temptations seemed to pull him in opposite directions. He would invoke Rousseau, Marx and other great revolutionary thinkers as sources of political inspiration. Yet would any of these figures have shared his difficulties in connecting politics with science? Rousseau’s 1762 treatise, The social contract, was both scholarly and incendiary. Marx intended his Capital to change the world. Is science itself not revolutionary? Why should the pursuit of truth - scientific truth about language, for example - require different methods or pull in a different direction from the pursuit of social equality and justice? |
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (6 of 6)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6The powers that be use Fallacies, cheap rhetoric and emotive language to persuade. These aspects of particular USES of language are well known. Noam chomsky studied the theory of language itself at a more fundamental level. They are not quite the same thing.
This is just an excuse to have a cheap go at a distinguished but elderly man who in his time has contributed a great amount to science and to furthering our awareness of the misuse of political power. He was and still is a man of principle.
He deserves much better than this. Kudos Noam!
I have not formed an opinion on this article but I admire Chomsky for his political activities. Just as I admire Chris Knight who is also a great class struggle activist. Chris lost his job due to his activities during the G20 Summit in London last year.
More info about Chris at: http://www.chrisknight.co.uk/
Chris in Tophat
Let's also not forget Chomsky's great essay/talk on 'Language and Freedom' available in Chomsky on Anarchism or at the link below.
A PDF of the talk (with an introduction to it) is available here:
http://www.chomsky.info/books/state02.pdf
A audio of a related talk is available here:
http://www.almanews.unibo.it/04_05/chomeibl/video/chmsk...1.ram
Great article. Chomsky is an enigma all right. Is his LAD theory not a case of 'biology making the argument for anarchism' i.e., without the imposition of society/the state/institutions etc., the human being would flourish - language is not learned, it is innate and we are all born with the full 'code' for perfect, and 'natural', language production - it is 'society' that imposes upon/restricts overall 'free' human development, and explains 'Orwell's Problem'. An asocial explanation too far methinks.
I am surprised that the article makes no reference to Engels' "The Part played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man" by way of explaining the role of social relations in the development/evolution of humankind and (by necessary extension), language.
In other writings by Chris Knight he certainly references Engels on Ape to Man. You can find more articles here: http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/new/RAG_Home.html
Many of Chris Knights articles and books are available online at:
http://www.chrisknight.co.uk/publications/
Is how humble he is and how he doesn't always try to engage in these pissing contests to show how great he is. He's always willing to entertain criticism. Thats special for an academic of his standing. Sorry to see that it's not such a common trait. Not even on indy comments sections.