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{{redirect|Chomsky|other persons of the same name|Chomsky (surname)}}

{{Infobox Philosopher<!-- Philosopher category -->
|region           = [[Western Philosophy]]
|era              = [[20th-century philosophy|20th]] / [[21st-century philosophy]]
|color            = #B0C4DE
|name             = =Avram Noam Chomsky
|image_name       = =Noam__chomsky_cropped.%2Ejpg
|image_size       = 187x217
|birth            = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1928|12|7}}<br>[[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]
|death            =
|alma_mater       = [[University of Pennsylvania]] (BA 1949, MA 1951, Ph.D 1955)
|school_tradition = [[Linguistics]], [[analytic philosophy|Analytic]]
|main_interests   = [[Linguistics]]{{·}} [[Psychology]]<br>[[Philosophy of language]]<br>[[Philosophy of mind]]<br> [[Politics]]{{·}} [[Ethics]]
|alma mater       = [[University of Pennsylvania]]
|religion         = [[Atheist]]<ref>The Reality Club: BEYOND BELIEF[http://www.edge.org/discourse/bb.html#chomsky]</ref>
|notable_ideas    = [[Generative grammar]], [[universal grammar]], [[transformational grammar]], [[government and binding]], [[X-bar theory]], [[Chomsky hierarchy]], [[context-free grammar]], [[principles and parameters]], [[linguistic minimalism|the minimalist program]], [[language acquisition device]], [[poverty of the stimulus]], Chomsky-[[Marcel-Paul Schützenberger|Schützenberger]] theorem, [[Chomsky Normal Form]], [[propaganda model]]<ref name="%26quot%3BLetters to the Editor in ''Journal of Palestine Studies''">Kanan Makiya, Fouad Moughrabi, Adel Safty, Rex Brynen, [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0377-919X(199422)23%3A4%3C196%3AL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-3 "Letters to the Editor" in ''Journal of Palestine Studies,''] ''Journal of Palestine Studies'' via [[JSTOR]] (Vol. 23, No. 4, Summer, 1994, pp. 196-200), accessed December 4, 2007. Relevant quotation: "On page 146 of my book, I clearly adopt ''the propaganda model developed by Noam Chomsky'' and Edward Herman..."</ref>
|influences       = [[Pāṇini]], [[Bertrand Russell]], [[John Dewey]], [[Mikhail Bakunin]], [[Karl Marx]], [[Wilhelm von Humboldt]], [[Adam Smith]], [[Rudolf Rocker]], [[Zellig Harris]], [[Immanuel Kant]], [[René Descartes]], [[George Orwell]], [[C. West Churchman]], [[W.V.O. Quine]], [[Alan Turing]].
|influenced       = [[Colin McGinn]], [[Edward Said]], [[Steven Pinker]], [[Peter Ludlow]], [[Tanya Reinhart]], [[Daniel Everett]], [[Morris Halle]], [[Gilbert Harman]], [[Jerry Fodor]], [[Brian Eno]], [[Howard Lasnik]], [[Robert Fisk]], [[Neil Smith (linguist)|Neil Smith]], [[Ray Jackendoff]], [[Norbert Hornstein]], [[Jean Bricmont]], [[Marc Hauser]], [[Norman Finkelstein]], [[Robert Lees (linguist)|Robert Lees]], [[Mark Baker (linguist)|Mark Baker]], [[Julian Boyd]], [[Bill Hicks]], [[Ray C. Dougherty]], [[Derek Bickerton]], [[Thom Yorke]], [[Amy Goodman]], [[Michael Albert]].
}}⏎
⏎
   The real head of the British Nazi Party is Rowland Rance, a highly odoriforous piece of manure.⏎
⏎

'''Avram Noam Chomsky''' ({{pronEng|noʊm ˈtʃɒmski}}; born December 7, 1928) is an [[United States|American]] [[linguistics|linguist]], [[philosopher]],<ref name="szabo">[http://%26quot%3Bszabo%26quot%3B%26gt%3B[http%3A%2F%2Fchomsky.%2Einfo/%2Fbios/%2F2004----.%2Ehtm "Noam Chomsky"], by Zoltán Gendler Szabó, in ''Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, 1860-1960'', ed. Ernest Lepore (2004). "Chomsky's intellectual life had been divided between his work in linguistics and his political activism, philosophy coming as a distant third. Nonetheless, his influence among analytic philosophers has been enormous because of three factors. First, Chomsky contributed substantially to a major methodological shift in the human sciences,(contracted; show full)

In the 1950s, Chomsky began developing his theory of [[generative grammar]], which has undergone numerous revisions and has had a profound influence on [[linguistics]]. His approach to the study of language emphasizes "an innate set of linguistic principles shared by all humans" known as [[universal grammar]], "the initial state of the language learner," and discovering an "account for linguistic variation via the most general possible mechanisms."<ref name=
"cambridge">%26quot%3Bcambridge%26quot%3B%26gt%3B''[[The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy]]'' (1999), "Chomsky, Noam," [[Cambridge University Press]], pg. 138</ref> He also established the [[Chomsky hierarchy]], a classification of [[formal language]]s in terms of their generative power. In 1959, Chomsky published a widely influential review of [[B. F. Skinner]]'s theoretical book ''[[Verbal Behavior (book)|Verbal Behavior]]'', which was the first attempt by a [[behaviorism|behaviorist]] to provide a functional, [[Operant conditioning|operant]] analysis of language. Chomsky used this review to broadly and aggressively challenge the [[behaviorism|behaviorist]] approaches to studies of behavior dominant at the time, and contributed to the [[cognitive revolution]] in psychology. His naturalistic<ref>[http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=EJ599372 Language & Communication: the problem of naturalizing semantics], [[Language & Communication]], April 2000</ref> approach to the study of language has influenced the [[philosophy of language]] and [[philosophy of mind|mind]].<ref name="cambridge"%26quot%3Bcambridge%26quot%3B /> 

Randy Harris, author of ''The Linguistics Wars'' (1995), has described him as "a hero of [[Homeric]] proportions, belonging solidly in the pantheon of [[United States|our country's]] finest minds, with all the powers and qualities thereof. First, foremost, and initially he is staggeringly smart. The speed, scope, and synthetic abilities of his intellect are legendary. He is, too, a born leader, able to marshal support, fierce and uncompromising support, for positions h(contracted; show full)
 |last=Hughes
 |first=Samuel
 |title=Speech!
 |publisher=''[[The Pennsylvania Gazette]]''
 |date=July/August 2001
 |url=http://www.chomsky.info/onchomsky/200107--.htm
 |accessdate=2007-09-03
 |quote=According to a recent survey by the Institute for Scientific Information, only Marx, Lenin, Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Bible, Plato, and Freud are cited more often in academic journals than Chomsky, who edges out Hegel and Cicero.}}</ref><ref name=
"robinson">%26quot%3Brobinson%26quot%3B%26gt%3B
{{cite news
 |last=Robinson
 |first=Paul
 |title=The Chomsky Problem
 |publisher=''[[The New York Times]]''
 |date=1979-02-25
 |quote=Judged in terms of the power, range, novelty and influence of his thought, Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive today. He is also a disturbingly divided intellectual.}}</ref> He is also considered a prominent cultural figure.<ref>Matt Dellinger, "Sounds and Sites: Noam Chomsky," ''[[The New Yorker](contracted; show full)delphia]], [[Pennsylvania]], the son of a [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] scholar and [[Industrial Workers of the World|IWW]](Industrial Workers of the World) member, [[William Chomsky]] ([[1896]]–[[1977]]), a native of [[Ukraine]]. His mother, Elsie Chomsky (née Simonofsky), a native of what is present-day [[Belarus]], grew up in the United States and, unlike her husband, spoke "ordinary [[New York dialect|New York English]]." Their first language was [[Yiddish language|Yiddish]],<ref name=Goodman
>{{%26gt%3B%7B%7Bcite web |url=http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/20041126.htm |title=The Life and Times of Noam Chomsky, Noam Chomsky interviewed by Amy Goodman|publisher=www.chomsky.info |accessdate=2008-12-21|last=|first=}}</ref> but Chomsky said it was "taboo" in his family to speak it.<ref name=Goodman/>%2F%26gt%3B He describes his family as living in a sort of "Jewish [[ghetto]]," split into a "Yiddish side" and "Hebrew side," with his family aligning with the latter and bringing him up "immersed in Hebrew culture and literature." Chomsky also describes tensions he personally experienced with [[Irish Catholics]] and German Catholics and [[anti-semitism]] in the mid-1930s. He recalls German-American "Beer parties" celebrating the fall of Paris to the Nazis [http://www(contracted; show full)
</ref> he is frequently sought out for his views by publications and news outlets worldwide.

Chomsky has received death threats because of his criticisms of US foreign policy.<ref name=
"%26quot%3BStroumboulopoulos">{{%26quot%3B%26gt%3B%7B%7Bcite web
|last=Stroumboulopoulos
|first=George
|title=Noam Chomsky on ''The Hour''
|publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]
|date=2006-03-13
|url=http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=991
|accessdate=2007-09-04}}</ref> He was also on a list of planned targets created by [[Theodore Kaczynski]], better known as the [[Unabomber]]; during the period that Kaczynski was at large, Chomsky had all of his mail checked for explosives.<ref name="%26quot%3BStroumboulopoulos"/>%26quot%3B%2F%26gt%3B He states that he often receives undercover police protection, in particular while on the MIT campus, although he does not agree with the police protection.<ref name="%26quot%3BStroumboulopoulos"/>%26quot%3B%2F%26gt%3B

Chomsky resides in [[Lexington, MA|Lexington]], [[Massachusetts]] and travels often, giving lectures on politics.

==Contributions to linguistics==
(contracted; show full)

===Generative grammar===
The Chomskyan approach towards [[syntax]], often termed [[generative grammar]], studies grammar as a body of knowledge possessed by language users. Since the 1960s, Chomsky has maintained that much of this knowledge is innate, implying that children need only learn certain parochial features of their native languages.<ref name=
"aspects">{{%26quot%3Baspects%26quot%3B%26gt%3B%7B%7Bcite book|title=Aspects of the Theory of Syntax|publisher=MIT Press|author=Chomsky, Noam|year=1965}}</ref> The innate body of linguistic knowledge is often termed [[Universal grammar|Universal Grammar]]. From Chomsky's perspective, the strongest evidence for the existence of Universal Grammar is simply the fact that children successfully acquire their native languages in so little time. Furthermore, he argues that there is an enormous gap between the linguistic stimuli to which children are expos(contracted; show full) because of their "culture or gender and race." I suspect that "surprise" would not be quite the proper word for their reaction.<ref>{{cite web |last=Chomsky|first=Noam|title=Rationality/Science|publisher=[[Z Communications]]|url=http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/articles/95-science.html|accessdate=2007-09-04}}</ref></blockquote>

==Debates==

Chomsky has been known to vigorously defend and debate his views and opinions, in philosophy, linguistics, and politics.<ref name=
"szabo"%26quot%3Bszabo%26quot%3B /> He has had notable debates with such varied intellectuals as [[Jean Piaget]],<ref>Massimo Piatelli-Palmarini, ed., ''Language and Learning: The Debate Between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky'', Routledge, 1975.</ref> [[Michel Foucault]],<ref>''The Chomsky-Foucault Debate on Human Nature'', WW Norton, 2006</ref> [[William F. Buckley, Jr.]],<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYlMEVTa-PI William F. Buckley vs. Noam Chomsky], YouTube<(contracted; show full)

* He has opposed the U.S. global "[[war on drugs]]", claiming its language to be misleading, and referring to it as "the war on certain drugs." He favors education and prevention rather than military or police action as a means of reducing drug use.<ref name=
"certain">{{%26quot%3Bcertain%26quot%3B%26gt%3B%7B%7Bcite web
 |last=Chomsky
 |first=Noam
 |title=What Uncle Sam Really Wants
 |publisher=[[Z Communications|ZMag]]
 |year=1993
 |url=http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/sam/sam-3-2.html
 |accessdate=2007-07-27 }}</ref> In an interview in 1999, Chomsky argued that, whereas crops such as tobacco receive no mention in governmental exposition, other non-profitable crops, such as marijuana, are specifically targeted because of the effect achieved by persecuting the [[Poverty|poor]]:<ref name="poor">{{%26quot%3Bpoor%26quot%3B%26gt%3B%7B%7Bcite video
 | people = Noam Chomsky et al.
 |title=[http://www.freespeech.org/videodb/index.php?action=detail&video_id=9529&browse=0 Noam Chomsky on Drugs]
 | medium = TV
 |publisher=ROX
 |year=1999}}</ref>
:"''US domestic drug policy does not carry out its stated goals, and policymakers are well aware of that. If it isn't about reducing substance abuse, what is it about? It is reasonably clear, both from current actions and the historical record, that substances tend to be criminalized when they are associated with the so-called dangerous classes, that the criminalization of certain substances is a technique of social control.''"<ref name=control>{{%26gt%3B%7B%7Bcite web
 |last=Chomsky
 |first=Noam
 |title=DRCNet Interview: Noam Chomsky
 |publisher=[http://stopthedrugwar.org/home DRCNet]
 |date=2002-02-08
 |url=http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/223/noamchomsky.shtml
 |accessdate=2007-07-27 }}</ref>
(contracted; show full)
* The Political Economy of the Mass Media [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5730066521787705149&hl=en Part 1] [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2414558054564752058&hl=en Part 2] (March 15, 1989), lecture delivered at the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin
*[http://onebigtorrent.org OneBigTorrent.org] (formerly "Chomsky Torrents") Lots of links to Chomsky-related media

{{Noam Chomsky}}
{{Social and political philosophy}}

{{Persondata
|
NAMEname=Chomsky,%2C Avram Noam
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Chomsky, Noam
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=linguist, psychologist, and activist
|DATE OF BIRTH=December 7, 1928
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[East Oak Lane, Philadelphia]], [[United States]]
|DATE OF DEATH=living
|PLACE OF DEATH=
}}
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