Avram Noam Chomsky ( born December 7 , 1928 ) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics , political activism , and social criticism .
Sometimes called " the father of modern linguistics " , Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science .
He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) .
Among the most cited living authors , Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics , war , and politics .
Ideologically , he aligns with anarcho- syndicalism and libertarian socialism .
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants in Philadelphia , Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City .
He studied at the University of Pennsylvania .
During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows , Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955 .
That year he began teaching at MIT , and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures , which played a major role in remodeling the study of language .
From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study .
He created or co-created the universal grammar theory , the generative grammar theory , the Chomsky hierarchy , and the minimalist program .
Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism , and was particularly critical of the work of B. F. Skinner .
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War , which he saw as an act of American imperialism , in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay " The Responsibility of Intellectuals " .
Becoming associated with the New Left , he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard Nixon 's list of political opponents .
While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades , he also became involved in the linguistics wars .
In collaboration with Edward S. Herman , Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent , and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor .
His defense of unconditional freedom of speech , including that of Holocaust denial , generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s .
Chomsky 's commentary on the Cambodian genocide also generated controversy .
Since retiring from active teaching at MIT , he has continued his vocal political activism , including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement .
Chomsky began teaching at the University of Arizona in 2017 .
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences , contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind .
Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy , contemporary capitalism , U.S. involvement and Israel 's role in the Israeli– Palestinian conflict , and mass media .
Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements .
The basis of Chomsky 's linguistic theory lies in biolinguistics , the linguistic school that holds that the principles underpinning the structure of language are biologically preset in the human mind and hence genetically inherited .
He argues that all humans share the same underlying linguistic structure , irrespective of sociocultural differences .
In adopting this position Chomsky rejects the radical behaviorist psychology of B. F. Skinner , who viewed speech , thought , and all behavior as a completely learned product of the interactions between organisms and their environments .
Accordingly , Chomsky argues that language is a unique evolutionary development of the human species and distinguished from modes of communication used by any other animal species .
Chomsky argues that his nativist , internalist view of language is consistent with the philosophical school of " rationalism " and contrasts with the anti-nativist , externalist view of language consistent with the philosophical school of " empiricism " , which contends that all knowledge , including language , comes from external stimuli .
Historians have disputed Chomsky 's claim about rationalism on the basis that his theory of innate grammar excludes propositional knowledge and instead focuses on innate learning capacities or structures .
Chomsky is a prominent political dissident .
His political views have changed little since his childhood , when he was influenced by the emphasis on political activism that was ingrained in Jewish working - class tradition .
He usually identifies as an anarcho - syndicalist or a libertarian socialist .
He views these positions not as precise political theories but as ideals that he thinks best meet human needs : liberty , community , and freedom of association .
Unlike some other socialists , such as Marxists , Chomsky believes that politics lies outside the remit of science , but he still roots his ideas about an ideal society in empirical data and empirically justified theories .
In Chomsky 's view , the truth about political realities is systematically distorted or suppressed by an elite corporatocracy , which uses corporate media , advertising , and think tanks to promote its own propaganda .
His work seeks to reveal such manipulations and the truth they obscure .
Chomsky believes this web of falsehood can be broken by " common sense " , critical thinking , and understanding the roles of self - interest and self - deception , and that intellectuals abdicate their moral responsibility to tell the truth about the world in fear of losing prestige and funding .
He argues that , as such an intellectual , it is his duty to use his social privilege , resources , and training to aid popular democracy movements in their struggles .
Although he has participated in direct action demonstrations —joining protests , being arrested , organizing groups — Chomsky 's primary political outlet is education , i.e. , free public lessons .
He is a longtime member of the Industrial Workers of the World international union , as was his father .