Decoding Chomsky: Science and Revolutionary Politics

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Yale University Press, Sep 27, 2016 - Philosophy - 256 pages
A fresh and fascinating look at the philosophies, politics, and intellectual legacy of one of the twentieth century’s most influential and controversial minds

Occupying a pivotal position in postwar thought, Noam Chomsky is both the founder of modern linguistics and the world’s most prominent political dissident. Chris Knight adopts an anthropologist’s perspective on the twin output of this intellectual giant, acclaimed as much for his denunciations of US foreign policy as for his theories about language and mind. Knight explores the social and institutional context of Chomsky’s thinking, showing how the tension between military funding and his role as linchpin of the political left pressured him to establish a disconnect between science on the one hand and politics on the other, deepening a split between mind and body characteristic of Western philosophy since the Enlightenment. Provocative, fearless, and engaging, this remarkable study explains the enigma of one of the greatest intellectuals of our time.
 

Contents

CHAPTER 1 THE REVOLUTIONARY
1
CHAPTER 2 THE LANGUAGE MACHINE
14
CHAPTER 3 A MAN OF HIS TIME
23
CHAPTER 4 THE MOST HIDEOUS INSTITUTION ON THIS EARTH
28
CHAPTER 5 THE COGNITIVE REVOLUTION
42
CHAPTER 6 THE TOWER OF BABEL
52
CHAPTER 7 THE PENTAGONS NEW TOWER
56
THE GREAT FOLLY
66
CHAPTER 15 BETWEEN COLLIDING TECTONIC PLATES
130
CHAPTER 16 THE ESCAPOLOGIST
138
CHAPTER 17 THE SOUL MUTATION
149
CHAPTER 18 CARBURETTOR AND OTHER INNATE CONCEPTS
160
CHAPTER 19 A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION?
169
CHAPTER 20 MINDLESS ACTIVISM TONGUETIED SCIENCE
187
CHAPTER 21 CHOMSKYS TOWER
201
CHAPTER 22 BEFORE LANGUAGE
210

CHAPTER 9 A UNIVERSAL ALPHABET OF SOUNDS
73
CHAPTER 10 RUSSIAN FORMALIST ROOTS
85
CHAPTER 11 INCANTATION BY LAUGHTER
91
CHAPTER 12 TATLINS TOWER
104
CHAPTER 13 AN INSTINCT FOR FREEDOM
110
CHAPTER 14 THE LINGUISTICS WARS
120
CHAPTER 23 THE HUMAN REVOLUTION
231
GLOSSARY
243
NOTES
246
BIBLIOGRAPHY
263
INDEX
277
Copyright

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About the author (2016)

Chris Knight is currently senior research fellow in the department of anthropology at University College, London. He lives in London.

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