In What Kind of Creatures Are We? Noam Chomsky looks back at evolution of Language. Ability to think and speak with a vast vocabulary is what separates us from other mammals. He explores and questions how much do we really know about our language skills. He questions previous research and provides countering views to what has been accepted.
Noam Chomsky needs no introduction. Unfortunately, it was only when I was reading up on rhetoric, cognitive science, and information overload in the late 2008. I stumbled across his articles then, and have been eager to read everything that has his byline, since then.
Noam Chomsky is a linguist, educator, thinker. He has been teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955. He developed a theory of transformational grammar that greatly influenced scientific study of language.
What Kind of Creatures Are We?
Author: Noam Chomsky
Series: Columbia Themes in Philosophy
Hardcover: 200 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press (December 15, 2015)
ISBN: 0231175965, 978-0231175968
Humans like other animals are social creatures. And to live peacefully without hunting each other all the time, we have devised a system that allows us to live with an arrangement that takes into account welfare of all – the government.
In What is Common Good? the author traces the development of how we arrived at this system and is Democracy really the best form of governance. Or is it as Aristotle says, only the best of the available.
Noam Chomsky looks at thinkers like Adam Smith, Marx, Hume, and Humboldt to understand the intended function of a democratic government. He questions its evolution from then to what is now and has it developed in line with the original views.
The book is an excellent resource for readers who find interest in fundamental questions related to language and consciousness. Language, thought, social behavior and community living are the things that define us. But there is still much more that we do not know or do not understand. What Kind of Creatures Are We? will help you expand your views on all of these important aspects of our life and make you think.