Avram Noam Chomsky (born
December 7,
1928) is the
Institute Professor
at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He
is credited with the creation of the theory of
generative grammar, considered to be one of the
most significant contributions to the field of
theoretical linguistics made in the 20th
century. He also helped spark the
cognitive revolution in psychology through his
review of
B.F. Skinner's
Verbal Behavior, in which he challenged the
behaviorist approach to the study of mind and
language dominant in the 1950s. His naturalistic
approach to the study of language has also affected
the
philosophy of language and
mind (see
Harman,
Fodor). He is also credited with the
establishment of the
Chomsky–Schützenberger hierarchy, a
classification of
formal languages in terms of their generative
power.
Beginning with his critique of the Vietnam
War in the 1960s, Chomsky has become more generally
known - especially internationally - for his media
criticism and anti-establishment politics than for his
linguistic theories. He is generally considered to
be a key
intellectual figure within the
left wing of
United States politics. According to the
Arts and Humanities Citation Index, between 1980
and 1992 Chomsky was cited as a source more often
than any other living scholar, and the eighth most
cited scholar overall. Chomsky
describes himself as a
libertarian socialist and a sympathizer of
anarcho-syndicalism (he is a member of the
IWW). (adapted from
Wikipedia)
![[banner 2]](../images/banner1.gif){kind=link}
![[banner 3]](../WAR_EMPIRE2.gif){kind=link}