Link to a transcript of a speech by Noam Chomsky:
Tag: Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky – Paris Attacks Show Hypocrisy of West’s Outrage
Link to an article by Noam Chomsky:
“Paris Attacks Show Hypocrisy of West’s Outrage”
Bonus links: “Juan Cole’s Anti-Communist Rant” and “Sandbox Security”
Noam Chomsky – US Control Is Diminishing
Link to an interview of Noam Chomsky by David Barsamian, excerpted from Power Systems: Conversations on Global Democratic Uprisings and the New Challenges to US Empire (2013):
“US Control Is Diminishing, But It Still Thinks It Owns the World”
Chomsky vs. Žižek
Under the category of “old news”, there was a long-distance argument back in 2013 between Noam Chomsky and Slavoj Žižek on the significance (or lack thereof) of each other’s work.
It began with Chomsky describing Žižek’s work as empty “posturing”. Asked about the comments during a Q&A session for an unrelated presentation, Žižek responded (sort of). Žižek’s initial “response” seemed rather stupid and full of baseless attacks. So, Chomsky responded substantively, calling Žižek’s positions “fantasy”. At that point, Žižek finally prepared a substantive written response.
The winner of this “debate”? Žižek, clearly. The early comments from Žižek were gibberish, but also possibly misquoted and certainly “improvised” as he later acknowledged. But his final response points out some serious flaws in Chomsky’s “philosophy” and some clear hypocrisies. Chomsky never responded thereafter, as best as can be seen.
For worthy summaries of the debate, and how it really represents a generic one between analytic philosophy (Chomsky) and continental philosophy (Žižek), see The Guardian and The Partially Examined Life. This is much like the distinction between Isaac Newton’s (analytic) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s (continental) views on color.