Chomsky: Ideas and Ideals

by Neilson Voyne Smith, Nicholas Allott

Noam Chomsky continues to be one of the most influential intellectual figures of modern times. His wide-ranging contributions to the fields of linguistics, psychology, philosophy and politics have revolutionised our view of language, the mind and human nature. Assuming no prior knowledge of linguistics, this book explores Chomsky's key theories, especially recent developments in his Minimalist Program, addressing issues such as: how do we know a language? How do children acquire this knowledge? How did language evolve? This third edition has been expanded and thoroughly updated and includes an exploration of Chomsky's contributions to philosophy and psychology, outlining the impact of his radical and often controversial views. It concludes with an account of his political activism and his critique of recent developments such as the Arab Spring, Wikileaks and the Occupy movement. There is also a new section covering his views on climate change and nuclear disarmament.

Genres: Philosophy, Linguistics, Language, Nonfiction, Psychology, Academia

477 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 8, 1995

About the author

Neilson Voyne Smith is the Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at University College London and a Fellow of the British Academy. Variously credited as 'N.V. Smith', 'N. Smith', 'Neilson Smith', 'Neilson V. Smith', and 'Neil V. Smith', but most commonly 'Neil Smith'.

Reviews

[Mikael Lind · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb introduction to the linguistic, philosophical, psychological and political contributions of this important intellectual figure. Albeit largely focused upon linguistic theory and the philosophy of language, most people interested in getting to know Chomsky's influence on a wide range of fields should read this book.

[Nayeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This took me a while to read because it's so full of information and I often had to check other publications, I also put it on hold a couple of times because of other school work. I'm studying Applied Linguistics and I had a bit of a grasp on the topics having studied some syntax and psycholinguistics, and I do think that anyone wanting to understand the first chapters (specially chapter 2: the linguistic foundation) should have a bit of a linguistic background. All in all it's a great intro to Chomsky's work because it deals both with his proposals and the critiques of his work and Neil Smith writes in a very agreeable manner.

The last chapter (chapter 5: language and freedom) deals with Chomsky's philosophy as related to his incursions into political activism and his opinions on world events. It's also very interesting but it's definitely not what I know him for. I realize he's better known by non-linguists because of these opinions, but I appreciate his linguistic work a bit more.

[Laurie]

i'm finding this a difficult, but invigorating read. hopefully as i get the jargon down, it will be easier.

[Abdullahi Muhammad sani]

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