Noam Chomsky

Characterprofile

Dr.AvramNoamChomsky(AvramNoamChomsky,December1928July7-)istheemeritusprofessoroflinguisticsattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology.Chomsky's"GenerativeGrammar"isconsideredtobethegreatestcontributiontothestudyoftheoreticallinguisticsinthe20thcentury.HealsolaunchedacognitiverevolutioninpsychologybyreviewingBurgessFrederickSkinner’s"OralBehavior"andchallengedthebehavioristswhoweredominantinthe1950sinlearningthespiritandlanguage.Way.Hisnaturalwayoflearninglanguagealsohadagreatinfluenceonthephilosophyoflanguageandspirit.HisothergreatachievementistheestablishmentoftheChomskyhierarchy:theclassificationofregularlanguages​​basedondifferentgrammaticalproductivity.Chomskyisalsofamousforhisenthusiasmforpolitics,especiallyhiscriticismofthegovernmentsoftheUnitedStatesandothercountries.Chomskyclassifiedhimselfasaliberalsocialistandasympathizerofanarchistsyndicalism.Itisgenerallybelievedthatheisawell-knownmajorintellectualactiveinAmericanleft-wingpolitics.AccordingtotheArtandHumanitiesCitationIndex,from1980to1992,Chomskywasthemostcitedlivingscholarintheliteratureandtheeighthmostcitedinhistory.

Characterexperience

ChomskywasborninPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania.HisfatherWilliamChomsky(WilliamChomsky)wasaHebrewscholarfromasmallUkrainiantownthatwaslaterextinctbytheNazis.Hismother,ElsieChomskySimonofsky(ElsieChomskySimonofsky)isaBelarusian,buthismotherisdifferentfromhisfatherinthathismothergrewupintheUnitedStatesandspeaks"normalNewYorkEnglish.".BothofthemspeakYiddishastheirfirstlanguage,althoughChomskyhimselfsaidthathisparentsforbidthelanguageathome.HesaidthattheylivedinJewishsettlementssplitinto"Yiddish"and"Hebrew",andhisfamilyrecognizedthelatterandtaughthim"pureHebrewcultureandliterature."

Chomskyremembersthathisfirstarticlewaswrittenwhenhewastenyearsold.ItwasaboutthethreatofthespreadofNazismafterthefallofBarcelona.Fromtheageoftwelveorthirteen,Chomskymorethoroughlyidentifiedwithanarchism.

HegraduatedfromPhiladelphiaCentralHighSchool.Since1945,hehasstudiedunderthephilosophersC.WestChurchmanandNelsonGoodmanattheUniversityofPennsylvania.GoodmanandlinguistZelligHarris(ZelligHarris)studiedphilosophyandlinguistics.Harristaughthimhisdiscoveryoflinearoperatorsinlanguagestructure.Chomskylaterinterpretedtheseasoperationsontheproductsofcontext-freegrammarfromthemarkingsystem.Harris'politicalviewshadanimportantinfluenceontheformationofChomsky'spoliticalposition.

In1949,Chomskymarriedthelinguist"CarolSchatz"(CarolSchatz).Aftermarriage,theyhadtwodaughters,Aviva(Aviva,1957)andDiane(Diane,1960),andasonHarry(Harry,1967).

JomesreceivedaPhDinLinguisticsfromtheUniversityofPennsylvaniain1955.MostofhisdoctoralresearchwascompletedatHarvardUniversityinfouryearsasayoungHarvardscholar.Inhisdoctoraldissertation,hebegantodiscoversomeofhislinguisticideas,andlaterhefurtherelaboratedtheseandwrotehisprobablymostfamousworkinlinguistics-"SyntaxStructure".

JomesbeganteachingatMITin1955andbecameafullprofessorintheDepartmentofModernLanguages​​andLinguistics(nowtheDepartmentofLinguisticsandPhilosophy)in1961.From1966to1976,heservedastheFerrariP.WardChairinModernLanguages​​andLinguistics.Hewasappointedprofessorofthecollegein1976andhasbeenteachingattheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyfornearly50years.

ItwasduringthisperiodthatChomskybegantoparticipateinpoliticsmoreopenly.Withanarticleentitled"TheResponsibilitiesofIntellectuals"publishedintheNewYorkReviewofBooksin1967,ChomskybecameoneofthemainopponentsoftheVietnamWar.Sincethen,Chomskyhasbecomefamousforhispoliticalstance,commentingonpoliticalsituationsaroundtheworld,andwritingnumerousbooks.HiscriticismofAmericanforeignpolicyandthelegitimacyofAmericanpowerhasaprofoundimpact,andhasbecomeacontroversialfigure.Hehasaloyalfollowingontheleft,buthehasalsobeencriticizedmoreandmorebytherightandliberals,especiallyforhisreactionto9/11.

CriticismofUSforeignpolicyposesapersonalthreattoChomsky.HisnamewaslistedonTheodoreKaczynski("MailboxBombKiller")scheduledlist.BeforeKas’sarrest,Chomskyaskedhimtocheckincomingmailtopreventbombs.Heclaimstobeoftenprotectedbythepolice,especiallyontheMITcampus,althoughhehimselfdoesnotagreewiththisprotectioninprinciple.

DespiteallcriticismsoftheUnitedStates,ChomskystilllivesintheUnitedStates.Hisexplanationis:TheUnitedStatesisstillthegreatestcountryintheworld.Later,heexplained:"Comprehensivecomparisonsbetweencountriesaremeaningless,andIwouldnotcomparethemlikethat.However,theUnitedStateshassomeachievements,especiallytheleadingpositioninfreedomofspeechthathasbeenwonoverthecenturies."

RepresentativeWorks

"ModernHebrewLanguageMorphemePhoneme","TransformationAnalysis","SyntacticStructure".ChomskyisalsoveryconcernedaboutinternationalpoliticsandhasmademanypertinentcriticismsofcontemporarypoliticalpatternssuchastheIraqwarandunequaldevelopment.

AcademicContributions

Linguistics

"SyntacticStructures"(SyntacticStructures)isChomsky’sintroductiontotransformativegenerativegrammarTheessenceofthebook"LogicalStructureofLinguisticTheory".Thistheorybelievesthatthewayofspeaking(wordorder)followsacertainsyntax,whichischaracterizedbyformalgrammar,specificallyagrammarthatisnotaffectedbycontextandhasrulesoftransformationandgeneration.Childrenareassumedtobebornwithknowledgeofbasicgrammaticalstructuresapplicabletoallhumanlanguages.Thiskindofinnateknowledgeisoftencalledthetheoryofuniversalgrammar.

However,aconsiderablenumberoflinguistsopposethetheoryofuniversalgrammar,thinkingthatitistooaggressivetoassumethatallhumanlanguages​​haveacommon"low-levelgrammar"beforeallhumanlanguages​​havebeenstudied.Whenuniversalgrammarstudiesunknownlanguages,ithastoassumemany"blankpartsofspeech".Whenstudyinglanguages​​whosebasicgrammaris"predicateobject"(suchasIrishGaelic),ithastoassumethatthe"basicstructure"oftheselanguages​​isSubject,predicateandobject,thisapproachitselfmayhaveviolatedtheprincipleofdescriptiveness.Therearealsolinguists(suchasMichaelEvansandStephanLevinson)whoarguethatuniversalgrammarisbasedonethnocentrism,andthiswillhaveaverybadimpactoncognitivescience.

LinguistandmathematicianZhouHaizhongpointedoutthatuniversalgrammarhasalwaysbeenahottopicofcontroversy.Ishumanlanguageabilityinnateoracquired?Istheevolutionoflanguagetheresultofhumangenes,ortheresultofhistoricalandculturalinfluence.Thereisnoconvincinganswertothesequestionssofar.Therefore,theinquiryanddebateonuniversalgrammarwillcontinue.

Psychology

Chomsky’slinguisticworkshavehadasignificantimpactonthedevelopmentdirectionofpsychologyinthe20thcentury.Histheoryofuniversalgrammarisconsideredbymanytobeadirectchallengetoestablishedbehavioristtheories.Thistheoryhasfar-reachingsignificanceforunderstandinghowchildrenacquirelanguageandwhatistheabilitytotrulyunderstandlanguage.ManybasicprinciplesofChomsky'stheoryarenowgenerallyacceptedincertaincircles.In1959,ChomskypublishedalongreviewofBurgessFrederickSkinner'sbook"OralBehavior".Skinnertriedtoexplainlanguageproblemswithbehavioraltheoryinhisbook.Hedefined"verbalbehavior"asabehaviorlearnedfromothers,whichisbeyondthescopeoflinguists'usualconcern.Thebehaviorpresentsageneralexplanation.

Skinner’sresearchmethodisverydifferentfromtraditionallinguisticsinthatitfocusesonthecontextoflanguageuse.Otherpeople'srequestsforwaterarefunctionallydifferent.Thiskindoffunction-differentresponsemethodneedstobeexplainedseparately,whichisinsharpcontrastwiththetraditionalviewoflanguageandChomsky'spsycholinguisticconcept,whichfocusesonthementalimageofwordsandassumesacertainOnceawordislearned,itwillappearinvariousfunctions.AlthoughChomsky'scritiqueofSkinnerin1959alsoinvolveddifferentfunctionsoforalbehavior,itmainlyfocusedonthebasicstartingpointofSkinner'stheory,thatis,thecritiqueofbehavioralpsychology.

ThemainpointofChomsky’spaperisthatitismeaninglesstoapplythebehavioralprinciplesinanimalresearchtohumansoutsidethelaboratory.Tounderstandthecomplexbehaviorofhumans,wemustassumeTherearesomeunobservableentitiesinthebrainwithultimateresponsibility.BothofthesepointsareindirectoppositiontoSkinner'sradicalism.ItshouldbenotedthatChomsky’s1959paperhasalsoreceivedseverecriticism.AnalysisofBehavior,volume13,pages83-99)"OnChomsky'sCommentonSkinner".Thispaperandothersimilarcommentspointtosomefactsthatareignoredbylaymen:Forexample,ChomskydoesnotreallyunderstandbehavioralpsychologyorSkinner’sradicalbehaviorism,andcommitsmanyembarrassingthings.mistake.Becauseofthis,Chomsky'spaperdidnotfulfillitsstatedmission.Thosewhoaredeeplyinfluencedbythispapereitherhaveneveragreedwithhimorhaveneverreadit.

ItisgenerallybelievedthatChomsky’scriticismofSkinner’sresearchmethodsandbasicassumptionscreatedthe"cognitiverevolution"ofAmericanpsychologyfromthe1950stothe1970s,thatis,fromthebehaviorResearch-orientedchangestocognitiveresearch-oriented.Chomsky'sinterpretationofhumanlanguageabilityinhis1966"DescartesLinguistics"andlaterworkslaterbecamearesearchmodelincertainfieldsofpsychology.ManyideasabouthowthemindworkstodayhaveevolvedfromChomsky’spersuasivethinking.Therearethreebasicideas.Firstofall,themindis"cognitive",orthemindcontainsmentalconditions,opinions,doubts,andsoon.Thepreviousconceptdoesnotevenrecognizethis,thinkingthatthereisonlyalogicalrelationshipsuchas"IfyouaskmeifIwantX,Iwillansweryes".Ontheotherhand,Chomskybelievesthattheusualviewmustbecorrect,thatis,thementalstatethatcontainsviewsandevenunconsciousnessinthemind.Second,Chomskybelievesthatmostoftheintellectualactivitiesofadultsare"innate."Althoughchildrendonotspeakacertainlanguageatbirth,allchildrenarebornwithastrong"languagelearning"abilitythatallowsthemtoquicklyabsorbseverallanguages​​inthefirstfewyears.Laterpsychologistsappliedthisargumentwidelybeyondlanguageissues.Finally,Chomskytakes"mode"asakeyfeatureofthecognitivestructureofthemind.Hebelievesthatthemindiscomposedofaseriesofsub-systemsthatinteractwitheachotherandperformtheirdutieswithlimitedcommunicationwitheachother.

ScienceandCulture

Chomskystronglydisagreeswiththecriticismofsciencebypost-structuralismandpostmodernism.

"IhavespentmostofmylifeusingmethodsthatIknow,methodsthatareaccusedofbeing'scientific,''rational,'and'logical'.Whenwritingpapers(note:thisshouldrefertopost-modernorpost-structurepapers),Ihopetheycanhelpmegobeyondthislimitation,orpointoutanewdirection.IamafraidIamdisappointed.IadmitthatthismaybemylimitationSex.UsuallywhenIreadthepolysyllabictermsofpost-structuralismorpost-modernism,Ijustswipeitinahurry.MostofwhatIcanunderstandareclichésorobviousfallacies,butthoseareonlyasmallpartofallwords.Indeed.TherearemanyotherthingsthatIdon’tunderstand,suchasarticlesinthelatestphysicsandmathematicsjournals.Buttheyarenotthesame.Inthelattercase,Iknowhowtounderstandthem,andIdidthatwhenIwasparticularlyinterested.;AndIknowthatpeopleinthosefieldscanexplaintomeaccordingtomylevel,sothatIcanunderstandsomeofthecontentthatIaminterestedin.Onthecontrary,nooneseemstobeabletoexplaintomethelatestpost-this,thepost-thatexcepttheclichés,nonsenseThereissomethingotherthantheobviouserror,andIdon’tknowhowtounderstanditfurther."

Chomskynoticedthatthecritiqueof"whitemalescience"issimilartoanti-Semitismand"GermanDuringthe"Physics"movement,theNazisattacked"Jewishphysics"forthepoliticalpurposeofdiscreditingtheresearchofJewishscientists.

Infact,thewholeterm"whitemalescience"remindsmeof"Jewishphysics".Maybethisismyothershortcoming,butwhenIreadascientificpaper,Icannottellwhethertheauthoriswhiteormale.Thesameistruefordiscussionsinclass,office,orotherplaces.Ireallydoubtthatthenon-male,non-whitestudents,friendsandcolleaguesIworkwithwillbehappytoacceptthisstatement,admittingthattheirwayofthinkingandunderstandingisdifferentfromthe"whitemalescience"duetothe"cultureofgenderandrace".Iguesstheirresponsetothiswasmorethanjust"surprise."

Influenceinotherfields

Chomsky’smodelisalsousedasthetheoreticalbasisforotherfields.TheChomskysystemisinvolvedinbasiccomputersciencecoursesbecauseitconveysinsightsintomanyformallanguages.Thissystemcanalsobediscussedfromtheperspectiveofmathematicsandhasarousedtheinterestofmathematicians,especiallycombinatorialmathematicians.ManyargumentsinevolutionarypsychologyarealsotriggeredbyChomsky'sresearchresults.

In1984,theNobelLaureateinPhysiologyandMedicine,NielsGirner,explainedthehumanimmunesystemwithChomsky’sgenerativemodel.Hecompared"variousfeaturesofproteinstructure"to"variousfeaturesofgenerativegrammar".component".Gillner’sStockholmNobellecturewasentitled"GenerativeGrammaroftheImmuneSystem".

Politicalviews

ChomskyisoneofthemostfamousrepresentativesofradicalpoliticalfiguresintheUnitedStates.Hecallshimselfananarchist,andaccordingtohimischallengingandtryingtoeliminateallimproperhierarchies.Heespeciallyagreeswiththeanarchistsyndicalismcenteredonlaborinanarchism.Unlikemanyanarchists,Chomskydoesnotcompletelyrejectelectoralpolitics;hispositionontheU.S.electionisthatcitizensshouldvoteforthelocalDemocratstopreventtheRepublicansfromcomingtopower,andinregionswheretheRepublicansdonothopetowin,theyshouldsupportmore.RadicalcandidatessuchastheGreenParty.Hecalledhimselfa"fellow"intheanarchisttradition,toshowhisdifferencefromapureanarchist,andtoexplainwhyhewassometimeswillingtointerveneinthestateapparatus.

Chomskyconsidershimselfaconservativememberoftheclassicliberals.HeevencallshimselfaZionist,eventhoughherealizesthatwhathecallsZionismisconsideredanti-Zionismbymanypeopletoday.Generallyspeaking,Chomskyisnotinterestedintraditionalpoliticaltitlesandclassifications.Hepreferstolethisviewsspeakforthemselves.Hismainpoliticalactivitiesarewritingarticlesformagazines,writingmonographsandgivingspeeches.ChomskyisalsoaseniorscholarintheSchoolofPolicyStudies.

Chomskywasrecentlyelectedasoneofthe11leadersinglobalgovernment.Whatmaysurprisesomepeopleisthatheisonlyfourth,behindtheDalaiLama,BillClinton,andNelsonMandela,whowaselectedpresident.TheDictionaryofModernAmericanPhilosophersreferredtoChomskyas"oneofthemostinfluentialcriticsofAmericanforeignpolicyontheleft."

ChomskyonTerrorism

Inresponsetothe"WaronTerrorism"declaredbytheUnitedStatesin1981and2001,ChomskybelievesthatinternationalterrorismThemainsourceofismistheworldpowerledbytheUnitedStates.HequotedthedefinitionofterrorisminaU.S.militarydictionary,sayingthatitis:"Intentionallyuseviolenceorthreatstouseviolencetoinspirefear,andattempttoforceorintimidatethegovernmentorsocietyinpursuitofpolitical,religiousorideologicalgoals."Hesaid.Thispointsoutthatterrorismisanobjectivedescriptionofacertainbehavior,regardlessofwhethertheactoristhestateapparatusornot.RegardingtheUSinvasionofAfghanistan,hesaid:"Thewantonkillingofinnocentciviliansisterrorism,notawaronterrorism."Ontheeffectivenessofterrorism:"Firstofall,terrorismisindeedeffectiveandwillnotfail.Itiseffective.Violenceisalwayseffective.Thishasalwaysbeenthecaseinworldhistory.Secondly,itisagreatanalyticalerrortosaythatterrorismisusuallyaweaponoftheweak.Likeotherviolentmethods,itisaweaponofthestronginmostcases.Terrorismiscalledtheweaponofthestrong.Theweaponfortheweakisthatbecausethestrongcontrolsspeechatthesametime,theirterroristactsarenotcounted.Thisisacommonsituation.Icanhardlythinkofanycounterexamplesinhistory,eventheheinousexecutionersthinkso.Forexample,theNazis.TheydidnotpracticeterrorismintheoccupiedEuropeanterritories.Theyweretoprotectlocalresidentsfromterroristattacksbyguerrillas.Justlikeotherresistancemovements,itwascalledterrorism.TheNaziswerefightingterrorism."

Asforwhetherterrorismshouldbecondemnedorsupported,Chomskybelievesthatterrorism(andviolenceandpower)shouldbecondemnedingeneral,unlessinsomecasesitistoavoidgreaterterror(orviolenceandabuse)power).Ina1967debateonthelegalityofpoliticalviolence,ChomskyarguedthattheterroristactivitiesoftheVietnamNationalLiberationFrontwereunjustified,buttheoretically,thoseactivitieswerejustifiedundercertaincircumstances:

"Idon’tthinktheNationalLiberationFront’sterroristactivitiesshouldbecondemned.Althoughthismaysoundevil,weshouldcomparethecosts.IfwewanttoLookingatthisissuefromamoralstandpoint-Ithinkweshouldbeso-wehavetoaskwhataretheconsequencesofusingandnotusingterroristactivities.Ifyoudonotuseterroristactivities,theconsequenceisthatVietnamesefarmerswillcontinuetoliveFilipinofarmers.Thatkindoflife,thenIthinkterroristactivitiesarelegal.But,asIsaidearlier,Idon’tthinksuccessisachievedthroughterroristactivities."

ChomskythinksthattheUSgovernmentTheactivitiesthathecalledterrorismcannothelpsuchatest.ThecondemnationofUSpolicyisoneofthemainpointsofhiswork.

CriticismoftheU.S.Government

ChomskyhasalwaysmaintainedaclearcriticalstanceontheU.S.government,andhiscriticismofU.S.foreignpolicyhasbecomehisOneofthebasicpointsofmanypoliticaltheories.Chomskygavetworeasonsforthis:First,hebelievedthatifhisworkwasdirectedatthegovernmentofhiscountry,itwouldhaveagreaterimpact.Second,ChomskybelievesthattheUnitedStates,astheonlyexistingsuperpowerintheworld,isasdomineeringasallprevioussuperpowers.

Mainworks

LanguageandPsychology

TheCollectionofDominationandConstraint

Newdirectionsinthestudyoflanguageandmind

Necessaryillusion-thoughtcontrolinademocraticsociety

GenerativeGrammarTheory

Linguisticknowledge:essence,originandapplication

Syntax:1957

9·11:2001

Chinesetranslationofthework

(sortedbytheyearoforiginalpublication)

Linguistics

"SyntacticStructures"(SyntacticStructures,1957)CompiledbyWangShiyuanandLuXiaodong,1966.HongKong:HongKongUniversityPress."Syntacticstructures"(Syntacticstructures,1957)XingGongwanetal.,1979.Beijing:ChinaSocialSciencesPress.

"Aspectsofthetheoryofsyntax"(Aspectsofthetheoryofsyntax,1965),translatedbyHuangChang,LinShuwu,ShenJiaxuan,etc.,1986.Beijing:ChinaSocialSciencesPress.

"SelectedWorksofChomsky'sLanguageandPhilosophy"(Languageandmind,1971;Rulesandrepresentations,1980),translatedbyXuLiejiong,YinDayi,andChengYumin,1992.Beijing:TheCommercialPress.

LanguageandResponsibility:ADialoguebetweenChomskyandHouner(LanguageandResponsibility,1979),translatedbyLinZonghong,1999.Taipei:ShulinPublishingCo.,Ltd.

"Lecturesongovernmentandbinding:Pisaacademiclectures"(Lecturesongovernmentandbinding,1981)translatedbyZhouLiuxi,LinShuwu,ShenJiaxuan,etc.;ZhaoShikaikai,1993.Beijing:ChinaSocialSciencesPress.

"Onnatureandlanguage—HangshijiLinguisticLectures"(Onnatureandlanguage,2002)editedbyAdrianaBelletti,LuckyRitz,translatedbyWuKailin,2004.Taipei:ShangZhouPublishingHouse.

"CollectedWorksofChomskyLinguistics"(Languageandmind,1971;Newhorizonsinthestudyoflanguageandmind,2000),translatedbyNingChunyanandothers,2006.Changsha:HunanEducationPress.

SocialandPoliticalThoughts

Piratesandemperors,oldandnew:internationalterrorismintherealworldterrorismintherealworld,1987)TranslatedbyLiZhenchang,2004.TaipeiNewStore:GuangxuCulture.

"Thecultureofterrorism"(Thecultureofterrorism,1989),translatedbyLinYoushengandYeXinyi;WangGanren,2003.Taipei:HongzhiCulture.

Profitoverpeople:neoliberalismandglobalorder(Profitoverpeople:neoliberalismandglobalorder,1999),translatedbyXuHaimingandJiHaihong,2000.Nanjing:JiangsuPeople'sPublishingHouse.

Roguestates(2000)translatedbyLinYousheng,2002.Taipei:ZhengzhongBookstore.

"9-11"(9-11,2001)translatedbyDingLiancai,2002.Taipei:Bulkculture.

Mediacontrol(1991/2002)2003.Taipei:RyefieldPublishingHouse.

Recently,NoamChomsky'sbook"Optimismbutnotdespair:Capitalism,EmpireandSocialChange"wasintroducedandpublishedbyShanghaiTranslationPublishingHouse.

Mainworks

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