乔姆斯基：思想与理想

NoamChomskyisoneoftheleadingintellectualfiguresofmoderntimes.Hehashadamajorinfluenceonlinguistics,psychologyandphilosophy,andasignificanteffectonarangeofotherdisciplinesfromanthropologytomathematics,educationtoliterarycriticism.InthisrigorousyetaccessibleaccountofChomsky'sworkandinfluence,NeilSmithanalysesChomsky'skeycontributionstothestudyoflanguageandthestudyofmind.HegivesadetailedandpartlyhistoricalexpositionofChomsky'slinguistictheorizing,andexaminestheideasforwhichheisbestknown.SmithdiscussesthepsychologicalandphilosophicalimplicationsofChomsky'swork,andarguesthathehasfundamentallychangedthewaywethinkofourselves,gainingapositioninthehistoryofideasonaparwiththatofDarwinofDescartes.Finally,heexaminesChomsky'spoliticalideasandhowthesefitintellectuallywithhisscholarlywork.Smitharguesthat,despiteChomsky'sowndisavowalofanyverycloseconnection,therearefundamentalideasofrationality,creativityandmodularitythatdrawtogetherthedisparatestrandsofhisvastoutput.Throughout,SmithexploresthecoutroversysurroundingChomsky'swork,andexplainswhyhehasbeenbothadulatedandvilified.Thismuchneededbookwillbewelcomedbyawiderangeofreaders:studentsandresearchersinlinguistics,philosophy,psychology,cognitivescienceandpolitics,andanyonewithaninterestintheimpactofChomsky'swork.