On Language
Chomsky's Classic Works 'Language and Responsibility' and 'Reflections on Language'
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Narrated by:
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Fajer Al-Kaisi
About this listen
Described by the New York Times as "arguably the most important intellectual alive," Noam Chomsky is known throughout the world for his highly influential writings on language and politics. Featuring two of Chomsky's most popular and enduring books in one omnibus volume, On Language contains some of the noted linguist and political critic's most informal and accessible work to date, making it an ideal introduction to his thought.
In Part I, "Language and Responsibility" (1979), Chomsky presents a fascinating self-portrait of his political, moral, and linguistic thinking through a series of interviews with Mitsou Ronat, the noted French linguist. In Part II, "Reflections on Language" (1975), Chomsky explores the more general implications of the study of language and offers incisive analyses of the controversies among psychologists, philosophers, and linguists over fundamental questions of language.
©1977 Language and Responsibility Flammarion; English translation and revisions of Language and Responsibility 1979 Noam Chomsky; Reflections on Language 1975 Noam Chomsky (P)2014 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Logic is synonymous with reason, judgment, sense, wisdom, and sanity. Being logical is the ability to create concise and reasoned arguments - arguments that build from given premises, using evidence, to a genuine conclusion. But mastering logical thinking also requires studying and understanding illogical thinking, both to sharpen one's own skills and to protect against incoherent or deliberately misleading reasoning. Elegant, pithy, and precise, Being Logical breaks logic down to its essentials through clear analysis, accessible examples, and focused insights.
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Very Easy To Absorb
- By Patrick A. Blank on 04-02-20
By: D.Q. McInerny
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About Behaviorism
- By: B.F. Skinner
- Narrated by: Matthew Josdal
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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About Behaviorism is about the controversial philosophy known as behaviorism, written by its leading exponent.
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Refreshing and concise
- By Autumn and Sam on 07-30-22
By: B.F. Skinner
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The Function of Reason
- By: Alfred North Whitehead
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Whitehead presented these three lectures at Princeton University in 1929. Although 85 years have passed, his central thesis and his analysis remain remarkably current. The scientific materialism that Whitehead opposed with such vigor continues to dominate in academic circles, and even now those who question that worldview are often accused of being antiscientific. This is especially true in discussions of the nature of the human mind and its relation to the body (particularly the brain).
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Good
- By Benjamin on 06-17-22
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Epistemology
- An Audio Guide
- By: Robert M. Martin
- Narrated by: Richard Aspel
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge. Without knowledge, scientific enquiry is meaningless and we can’t analyse the world around us. But what exactly is knowledge and how do we obtain it? Should we trust our senses? When is belief knowledge? Presuming no prior experience, Robert Martin covers everything in the topic from scepticism and induction to Kant’s transcendentalism. Clear and readable, this audiobook is essential for philosophy students and a much needed introduction for the general reader.
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Going to hear it again
- By R Durero on 08-02-14
By: Robert M. Martin
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The Landscape of History
- How Historians Map the Past
- By: John Lewis Gaddis
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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What is history, and why should we study it? Is there such a thing as historical truth? Is history a science? One of the most accomplished historians at work today, John Lewis Gaddis, answers these and other questions in this short, witty, and humane book. The Landscape of History provides a searching look at the historian's craft as well as a strong argument for why a historical consciousness should matter to us today.
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Excellent Book!
- By Billy on 09-15-18
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On the Soul & Parva Naturalia
- By: Aristotle
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Two contrasting reflections by Aristotle which cover very particular ground. In 'On the Soul', Aristotle presents his view of the 'life essence' which, he argues, is possessed by living things whether plants, animals or humans. Not a 'soul' in the generally accepted Western use of the term, this 'soul', he says, is a life force that is indivisible from the organism that possesses it.
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DeAnima. Aristotle on the soul.
- By Reader on 07-28-18
By: Aristotle
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The Problems of Philosophy
- By: Bertrand Russell
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Problems of Philosophy discusses Bertrand Russell's views on philosophy and the problems that arise in the field. Russell's views focus on knowledge rather than the metaphysical realm of philosophy. The Problems with Philosophy revolves around the central question that Russell asks in his opening line of Chapter 1 - Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it?
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Either be smart or be not smart
- By Gary on 01-18-18
By: Bertrand Russell
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Theory and History
- An Interpretation of Social and Economic Evolution (LvMI)
- By: Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Like F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises moved beyond economics in his later years to address questions regarding the foundation of all social science. But unlike Hayek's attempts, Mises' writings on these matters have received less attention than they deserve. Theory and History, writes Rothbard in his introduction, "remains by far the most neglected masterwork of Mises". Here Mises defends his all-important idea of methodological dualism: one approach to the hard sciences and another for the social sciences.
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Without This Book, You Are Uneducated
- By Michael D. Rubin on 10-03-18
By: Ludwig von Mises, and others
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Proving History
- Bayes's Theorem and the Quest for the Historical Jesus
- By: Richard Carrier
- Narrated by: Richard Carrier
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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This in-depth discussion of New Testament scholarship and the challenges of history as a whole proposes Bayes's Theorem, which deals with probabilities under conditions of uncertainty, as a solution to the problem of establishing reliable historical criteria. The author demonstrates that valid historical methods - not only in the study of Christian origins but in any historical study - can be described by, and reduced to, the logic of Bayes's Theorem. Conversely, he argues that any method that cannot be reduced to this theorem is invalid and should be abandoned.
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Good Book, Difficult Format
- By Erin Branscome on 08-21-15
By: Richard Carrier
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A Short History of Ethics
- By: Alasdair MacIntyre
- Narrated by: Tim Dalgleish
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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A Short History of Ethics is a significant contribution written by one of the most important living philosophers. It remains an important work, ideal for all students interested in ethics and morality.
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Great philosopher made ridiculous by accents
- By Olivia Walling on 10-04-17
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UNLISTENABLE
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Excellent Introduction/101 Level Book
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Noam Chomsky’s backpocket classic on wartime propaganda and opinion control begins by asserting two models of democracy - one in which the public actively participates, and one in which the public is manipulated and controlled. According to Chomsky, "propaganda is to democracy as the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state", and the mass media is the primary vehicle for delivering propaganda in the United States.
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kind of a rip-off
- By el_bobito on 10-07-15
By: Noam Chomsky
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On Anarchism
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On Anarchism provides the reasoning behind Noam Chomsky's fearless lifelong questioning of the legitimacy of entrenched power. In these essays, Chomsky redeems one of the most maligned ideologies, anarchism, and places it at the foundation of his political thinking. Chomsky's anarchism is distinctly optimistic and egalitarian. Moreover, it is a living, evolving tradition that is situated in a historical lineage; Chomsky's anarchism emphasizes the power of collective, rather than individualist, action.
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Hit and Miss
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Language defines us as a species, placing humans head and shoulders above even the most proficient animal communicators. But it also beguiles us with its endless mysteries, allowing us to ponder why different languages emerged, why there isn't simply a single language, how languages change over time and whether that's good or bad, and how languages die out and become extinct.
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Absolutely spot on except . . .
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In this pathbreaking work, now with a new introduction, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.
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Eye opening
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Linguistics falls in the gap between arts and science, on the edges of which the most fascinating discoveries and the most important problems are found. Rather than following the conventional organization of many contemporary introductions to the subject, the author of this stimulating guide begins his discussion with the oldest, "arts" end of the subject and moves chronologically through to the newest research - the "science" aspects.
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Almost Impossible to Listen to Without Text
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Requiem for the American Dream
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Noam Chomsky is widely regarded as the most influential thinker of our time, but never before has he devoted a major book to one topic: income inequality. Requiem for the American Dream is not an essay collection but an entire work of some 70,000 words, based on four years of interviews with Chomsky by the editors. It is a book that makes Chomsky's breadth and depth accessible and at the same time gives us his most powerful political ideas with unprecedented, breathtaking directness.
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Documents how US plutocracy oppresses citizens
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From its establishment to the present day, Israel has enjoyed a special position in the American roster of international friends. In Fateful Triangle, Noam Chomsky explores the character and historical development of this special relationship.
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Ethical Right to the Point
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This short, opinionated audiobook addresses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which argues that the language we speak shapes the way we perceive the world. Linguist John McWhorter argues that while this idea is mesmerizing, it is plainly wrong. It is language that reflects culture and worldview, not the other way around.
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I really love listening to language--and McWhorter
- By Rachel on 03-24-16
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The Language Instinct
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- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
In this classic, the world’s expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution. The Language Instinct received the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association....
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Absolutely Amazing and Interesting
- By J. C. on 10-28-12
By: Steven Pinker
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Necessary Illusions
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- By: Noam Chomsky
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Original Recording
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Performance
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Story
In his 1988 CBC Massey Lecture, Noam Chomsky inquires into the nature of the media in a political system where the population cannot be disciplined by force and thus must be subjected to more subtle forms of ideological control. Specific cases are illustrated in detail, using the U.S. media primarily but also media in other societies.
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Seminal work ruined by a terrible performance.
- By R. Kuprov on 04-14-17
By: Noam Chomsky
What listeners say about On Language
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Shellie
- 09-24-16
It was boring to listen to
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
No
It was read in a monotone fashion which made it hard to follow
What did you like best about this story?
It was an interesting concept
What didn’t you like about Fajer Al-Kaisi’s performance?
Very monotone
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1 person found this helpful
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- Commuting Learner
- 09-19-16
Difficult in audio format
Good, but difficult when commuting to work. I made a ton of bookmarks in this one for later review. As you can well imagine some aspects of this work require the hardcopy, pen and paper, and some quiet time to contemplate.
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13 people found this helpful
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- matt
- 10-21-17
Would recommend to accompany written text
Very difficult to follow without prior knowledge. Lots of descriptions of diagrams and mathematics.. difficult to follow without written version. But great material to learn.
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6 people found this helpful
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- steven werner
- 10-09-21
Not for anyone wanting to know his contributions
not for anyone wanting to know his contributions to linguistics
seems to just be his opions on politics and social matters.
I wish I could return it for my credit back
narrator does accents for some reason, kind of annoying.
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- Okan Tezucar
- 09-21-19
Very dissepointed
Nothing to write about. It is bad..Need to ask for refund. Why it was rated sooo high I do not understand
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1 person found this helpful
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- Seth
- 04-01-17
Philosophy Democratized??
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The chief irony of this book is that, in the first chapter, Chomsky upbraids the intellectual elite for using language and complexity with the intent of maintaining power over their realm. He suggests that work should and must be accessible to anyone with a desire to learn. He then proceeds with some of the most convoluted, coded and complex material I have ever been exposed to, constantly referencing other linguists and employing terminology which he never bothers to define. In the end, I ended up with empty hands.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Fajer Al-Kaisi?
Almost anyone. He reading style was beyond wooden. What was the producer thinking in casting him??
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2 people found this helpful
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- Catherine Puma
- 08-02-19
Narrow Minded and Outdated Opinions
I found very little substance here, if any exists to be found at all. I have read books on linguistics before, so for a book called "On Language", a linguistics discussion is what I came for and tried to find. To be honest, I picked this up in the first place because it was recommended to our book club by someone else, and I picked the previous choice, so I was obligated to read this one.
The biggest frustration, was that there was no structure or argument thread throughout at all. This is a collection of interviews Chomsky did and essays he wrote about various topics he found interesting. So while one of his stances might be that one cannot speak about language without speaking about politics at the same time, he does not embody his perspective here at all. While sometimes he talks about some grammar and sentence structure specifics found in the English language, most of the time he rambles on about sociopolitical topics that occurred during his time. Chomsky has a lot of opinions about different things, but fails to back up his claims adequately or to connect his thoughts together into a cohesive argument.
Chomsky's "On Language" also just seems so narrow-minded and outdated. Most of his references are to political swings occurring in the '60s and this book was first published in the '70s. It hasn't aged well, and I am at a lost to see how Chomsky's body of work is still relevant to today at all. He may have been an important member of the intelligentsia in his day, but I expected more from a seemingly respected linguist.
Furthermore, the scope of these discussions was just so limited. All of Chomsky's references are based in recent (for the time of first publication) American events, but the United States is not the only country that speaks English, and English is not even the most-spoken language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is currently the most-spoken language in the world at 1.1 billion speakers, with only 983 million English speakers. For a book titled "On Language", I expected a more intelligent perspective.
I would NOT recommend this to ANYONE. Not worth the time or money. Search elsewhere, anywhere else, for better discussion on language, society, and politics.
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6 people found this helpful
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- J_T
- 03-04-18
Stephen Hawking would have been a better narrator
What didn’t you like about Fajer Al-Kaisi’s performance?
From the half hearted attempt at an unnecessary French accent to the rest of the utterly flat narration, this was a mind numbing treatment of one of my favorite subjects.
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