Powers and Prospects: Reflections on Nature and the Social Order

by Noam Chomsky

Overview

The renowned linguist and political activist offers penetrating reflections on language, human nature, and foreign policy in this essay collection.
 
From linguistics to the Middle East; foreign affairs to the role of the media; and intellectual responsibility to the situation in East Timor, Noam Chomsky offers a wide-ranging exploration of the issues and ideas that have concerned him most deeply throughout his distinguished career. These essays are drawn from a series of lectures Chomsky gave in Australia in 1995, under the auspices of the East Timor Relief Association.
 
Examining the interplay between language, human nature and foreign policy, Powers and Prospects provides a scathing critique of government policy orthodoxy. Moving beyond criticism of the status quo, Chomsky then outlines other paths that can lead to better understanding and more constructive action.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608464432
Publisher:	Haymarket Books
Publication date:	11/04/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Lexile:	1500L (what's this?)
File size:	740 KB

About the Author

Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. A member of the American Academy of Science, he has published widely in both linguistics and current affairs. His books include At War with Asia, Towards a New Cold War, Fateful Triangle: The U. S., Israel and the Palestinians, Necessary Illusions, Hegemony or Survival, Deterring Democracy, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy and Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.
 

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface xi

1 Language and Thought: Some Reflections on Venerable Themes 1

The First Cognitive Revolution

The Second Cognitive Revolution

The Language Faculty

Unification Problems

Knowledge of Language

2 Language and Nature 41

Naturalism and Language-World Relations: Weak and Strong Theses

The Materialist Orthodoxy

The Externalist Orthodoxy

Language as a Natural Object

3 Writers and Intellectual Responsibility 71

4 Goals and Visions 91

Goals versus Visions

The 'Humanistic Conception'

'The New Spirit of the Age'

Voices of Resistance

'Tough Love'

5 Democracy and Markets in the New World Order 121

'Enduring Truths'

Markets in the Real World

Democracy: 'Containing the People'

'Free Market Conservatism'

Towards the End of History: the Utopia of the Masters

6 The Middle East Settlement: Its Sources and Contours 171

'What We Say Goes'

The Strategic Conception

'Stalemate'

'Victor's Peace': the Oslo Agreements

Terror and Punishment

Development Programs and Plans

'Human Dust and the Waste of Society'

7 The Great Powers and Human Rights: the Case of East Timor 219

Forbidden Territory

Asian Values

Western Values

'The Welfare of the World Capitalist System' and 'The Problem of Indonesia'

The Problem Solved

The Problem of East Timor

8 East Timor and World Order 265

The Rule of Law

International Responsibilities

Pragmatism and National Interest

Endnotes 289

Index 303