Despite recently revealed close ties to the convicted sex offender, Chomsky’s contributions to linguistics and philosophy are undeniable
It has been a sad time for the legions of fans of Noam Chomsky, having to see their hero in a photo hobnobbing with the late paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein inside the latter’s private jet.
The picture and their email exchanges were part of millions of pages released by the US Justice Department from its so-called Epstein files. So far, the most high-profile fallouts have been, understandably, the arrest of the former Prince Andrew, the public disgrace of British Labour Party official Peter Mandelson, the resignation of Goldman Sachs’ top lawyer Kathy Ruemmler and criminal charges against former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjørn Jagland.
But among intellectuals and leftists, the appearance of Chomsky in the files has them thunderstruck. No one has accused the great linguist and critic of United States imperialism of any wrongdoing, but his personal association with the monster clearly shows an extraordinary lapse of judgment, for which his wife and fellow linguist, Valeria Chomsky has publicly apologised.
But in the avalanche of public criticism against the man, there has been an element of guilt by association. The truth of the matter is that to further his social standing and influence, Epstein used his wealth to donate massively to some of the most prestigious universities in the United States, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Chomsky was a long-time faculty member.
Epstein cultivated relationships with world-famous academics such as Chomsky, who unfortunately fell for Epstein’s jet-setting lifestyle. But he won’t be the first or the last champagne socialist to fraternise with rich and powerful elites, among whom, without doubt, many monsters lurk.
Chomsky is 97; I sincerely hope the Epstein scandal will not permanently taint his legacy, which has been extraordinarily inspiring and enlightening to countless people the world over, including yours truly, both morally and intellectually.
In the English-speaking world, it’s difficult to name a greater towering thinker in terms of influence on leftist politics from the last century.
I first read his political books in high school. They opened my eyes to the iniquities and atrocities consistently committed by US imperialism, which began in the Americas before spreading around the world. What US President Donald Trump is doing against Venezuela, Cuba and Iran is nothing new, but follows a long, violent tradition that people call “US foreign policy”.
Chomsky has long exposed how the West, but especially the US, helps Israel commit unforgivable genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people that many regard as an act of Western settler colonialism.
Chomsky himself is Jewish, like many of the most fearless critics of Israel and the US, such as Norman Finkelstein, Ilan Pappe and Antony Loewenstein.
And like Albert Einstein, he is also among a disproportionate number of Jewish people who figured among the greatest thinkers and scientists of the last century.
As a philosophy student, I started reading his linguistics books in college. They are highly formal, almost mathematical and hard to understand. His research programme is awe-inspiring, even though I was told it’s now out of intellectual fashion.
Out of a minimal number of rules, Chomsky believes in a universal grammar theory that underpins all human languages. Moreover, such a “generative” grammar is genetically prewired in humans, and that’s why we are all language animals.
Such a programmatic vision perhaps dates back to Euclid. With five postulates, Euclid explored the properties of two- and three-dimensional geometries in The Elements. Italian logician Giuseppe Peano used just five axioms to generate the infinite set of natural numbers that forms the basis of arithmetic.
Out of mastering a finite set of grammatical rules from our native language, Chomsky believes we can indefinitely “create” new sentences and expressions, from everyday use to creating literature.
Out of mastering a finite set of grammatical rules from our native language, Chomsky believes we can indefinitely “create” new sentences and expressions, from everyday use to creating literature.
After I became a parent, I found Chomsky’s notion of creativity quite helpful as a pedagogical concept in educating children. By two to three years of age, most children can speak full sentences, many of which are new to them, because they have blossomed into creative speakers.
The linguistic lesson is that to be creative in any field, you have to master the basic rules. That’s why tiger parenting, at the beginning stages, is not only justified but required for young children to learn both discipline and mastery. They can be independent and creative after they have learned the basics.
To me, Chomsky is an intellectual god – a flawed one, no doubt. But then, couldn’t God be said to be tainted for creating Satan, thereby allowing evil to exist?
