For Reasons of State

by Noam Chomsky

Back in print after thirty years, this is a classic collection of Chomsky essays. It is particularly valuable as the first of Chomsky's works to fully demonstrate his power as a political thinker. In his biting critiques of American foreign policy, the collection showcases his unique ability to join broader philosophical concerns with the political realities of his time.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Philosophy, Political Science, United States, Social Science

440 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Avram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great technical treatment of Vietnam era malfeasance by the US government. Honestly, though, it is probably the densest book I have ever read and it takes a long time to read and even longer to digest. This one's a tall order. Chomsky's mind is like a whirlpool of molasses. If you decide to dive in, you're waist deep in the shit until he makes his point. Drink coffee. Read Chomsky.

[Raya Al-Raddadi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a classic collection of Chomsky earlier essays where he joins philosophical concerns with the political realities of his time. The book includes many topic such as Vietnam War, anarchism, behaviorism, and the role of universities as subversive institutions (which is my favourite, of course).

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

C'è da dire che probabilmente trovandomi a leggere la lista della spesa compilata da Chomsky troverei anche lì qualcosa di entusiasmante, quindi sono proprio di parte... ad ogni modo questo insieme di saggi lo definisco interessante e per alcuni versi illuminante (ma và). In primo piano ci sono gli scritti sulla guerra del Vietnam, tutti risalenti ai primissimi anni 70, quindi prima che la guerra finisse. Inoltre ci sono alcuni saggi che ho trovato in particolare interessanti come le Note sull'anarchismo, anche solo per i suggerimenti bibliografici, essendo molto breve, il saggio su Linguaggio e libertà, che mi sembra offrire spunti di riflessione davvero intriganti, e pure il saggio sul comportamentismo e in particolare su Skinner, che mi ha un po' illuminato con un punto di vista molto critico rinfrescandomi anche alcuni aspetti della psicologia ormai nebulosa dato che non li studio dai tempi della scuola

[Lorenzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'anonima esperti ★★★★☆
La guerra si estende ★★★½☆
La legge della forza negli affari internazionali ★★★★☆
Indocina: prossima fase ★★★½☆
Sui limiti della disobbedienza civile ★★★½☆
La funzione dell’università in un periodo di crisi ★★★☆☆
Psicologia e ideologia ★★★½☆
Note sull'anarchismo ★★★★☆
Linguaggio e libertà ★★★★☆

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up on the cheap primarily for the "Notes on Anarchism" essay and the intro by Arundhati Roy. Well worth it. Very very good stuff here.

[Mike Walczak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing inspection of the Vietnam War and the pentagon papers, with sections on anarchism, behavioralism and language.

[Parm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed analyses but also a bit of a slog. Extremely informative essays especially on SE Asia

[alligatorfisherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

will definitely be reading more of Arundhati Roy's writing...not Chomsky's