
Chomsky's “The Responsibility of Intellectuals” - foenix
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1967/feb/23/a-special-supplement-the-responsibility-of-intelle/?pagination=false
======
michaelchisari
Much of our conception of intellectuals is mired in the image of the Academic.
And while intellectuals which come out of academic circles are important, I
think we actually need to push instead for a popular intellectualism which is
not just independent of academia, but actively pushes it's obsolescence.

There have been scenes, areas and movements of popular intellectualism in the
past. The Lower East Side in the 1910's for instance.

I think Chomsky is an incredible political analyst and thinker, and I
appreciate the work he's done immensely. But I think it's important also to
consider how important it is that we do not separate ourselves or others from
"The Intellectuals", that we don't acquiesce to a certain academic
dilettantism instead of building a culture of intellectualism for ourselves
and others.

The major steps towards that are to first drop any pretense that
intellectualism comes from a specific context, whether academia, the middle
classes, white, male, etc. Wholeheartedly adopt, instead, the idea that
anybody can _and should_ be encouraged towards intellectualism.

In short, replace The Intellectual, with a culture of intellectualism.

Secondly, to encourage the importance of facts, the complexity of the world,
and infinity of ideas. Intellectualism doesn't thrive when people choose
strict ideologies, and argue them stubbornly. Instead, encourage people to
accept being wrong, to revel in it, even, and to put their ideas up to
scrutiny like a scientist.

The internet puts us in an incredible point in history where facts are non-
exclusive. We have all the facts we could ever need, and it's gotten easier
and easier to locate them. This major barrier to being an intellectual,
historically provided by academia, is almost completely gone. It's time we
learned how to move forward with the rest of it.

~~~
kevin_riggen
"This major barrier to being an intellectual, historically provided by
academia, is almost completely gone."

Wow, what an amazing conclusion. Well said and thanks.

~~~
FluidDjango
I teach (mediocre) college students. And I disagree.

It is _not_ lack of access to information ('facts') that is a barrier to being
an intellectual. It is a combination of inability/unwillingness to think
analytically about information and ideas. IMHO.

~~~
kiba
My though process often clashes with somebody who have a very different
assumption about how political systems should be organized.

I sometime recognize that the discussion is going nowhere because the
difference in ethical and principles are too great.

One example of this is the concept of democracy and the idea of popular
consent. I am extremely distrustful of human beings, so my political ideology
tend to have a strong anti-authoritarian bent.

------
kevin_riggen
Chomsky is an incredible writer. His style reminds me of Orwell (what do you
guys think about that?).

This is interesting, and something that (rather importantly) shatters many
Americans' world views :

"It surpasses belief, that is, unless we look at the matter from a more
historical point of view ... No one would be disturbed by an analysis of the
political behavior of the Russians, French, or Tanzanians questioning their
motives and interpreting their actions by the long-range interests concealed
behind their official rhetoric. But it is an article of faith that American
motives are pure, and not subject to analysis".

This ability to shatter a world view is why I appreciate and support Noam
Chomsky and Wikileaks and Colbert and anything else that challenges the
duping.

~~~
mynameishere
That comment is a banality and I'm pretty sure it was a banality in 1967. It
is, and I think always was, for "intellectuals" at all levels of ability and
arrogance to criticize their families/ethnicies/classes/governments/nations
and embrace the "other" in every category. It's a really common pose.

------
foenix
I realize that this is an especially old article (1967), but I found it
pertinent when I read:

> With respect to the responsibility of intellectuals, there are still other,
> equally disturbing questions. Intellectuals are in a position to expose the
> lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and
> motives and often hidden intentions.

~~~
grandalf
It's a very appropriate article these days. How many of us donated to
Wikileaks? How many will even go public (on Facebook) as supporting Wikileaks?

~~~
hazzen
Careful there; you've gone from a fact about yourself to a generalization of
everyone in a group. Down that road lies fallacy.

~~~
grandalf
I realize not all HN readers support Wikileaks. I used it as an example b/c it
is one of the few controversial entities left to support (or not). Pretty much
everyone opposes slavery, hunger, etc.

------
moogatronic
FYI - here's a link to this article with no ads/distractions:

<http://www.chomsky.info/articles/19670223.htm>

Readability still left a big graphic ad in the middle with the nybooks link.

~~~
foenix
Nice find, thanks! I'm switching my bookmarks now…

------
shmulkey18
Is it the responsibility of intellectuals to cheer-lead for Hezbollah? To
label a Holocaust denier and anti-semite "a relatively apolitical liberal of
some sort"? To minimise the Cambodian genocide?

[Refs:
[http://oliverkamm.typepad.com/blog/2004/11/chomsky_and_hol_1...](http://oliverkamm.typepad.com/blog/2004/11/chomsky_and_hol_1.html),
[http://econ161.berkeley.edu/movable_type/archives/000155.htm...](http://econ161.berkeley.edu/movable_type/archives/000155.html),
<http://wernercohn.com/Chomsky.html>,
<http://www.jochnowitz.net/Essays/ExtremistPolReg.html>]

If so, then Chomsky -- the idiot-savant of the American far-left -- discharges
his responsibility admirably.

Being lectured by Chomsky on the responsibility of intellectuals is like being
lectured on humanitarianism by Stalin.

Members of the Chomsky cult may now begin sputtering...

~~~
babeKnuth
disclosure: i'm not a chomsky fan

disclosure++: i'm less a fan of lies or mudslinging or false conclusions or
character assassinations

with that said....

chomsky doesn't "cheerlead for hezbollah"

chomsky doesn't deny the holocaust

chomsky isn't an anti-semite

the "criticisms" are similar to what the interviewer here keeps repeating (and
constantly ignoring his answers):

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM7IFBIfQ1M>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uZ33Z483yo>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSBFt-xtpBY>

~~~
shmulkey18
You say that you are "less a fan of lies ... or false conclusions... ". Thus,
I will be charitable and conclude that, rather than willfully
mischaracterizing what I wrote and ignoring the evidence for it, you simply
didn't read it very carefully.

1) "chomsky doesn't "cheerlead for hezbollah"

"Chomsky hails Hezbollah on TV" (<http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=36210>): 'Hosted
by Hezbollah, leftist professor Noam Chomsky ended his visit to Lebanon with a
tour of Al-Khiam Prison where he declared the terrorist group's success in
removing Israel from the south was "a victory for all the peoples that fight
injustice and oppression."

In a broadcast by Hezbollah's Al Manar television Sunday, translated by the
Middle East Media Research Institute, Chomsky was shown embracing Hezbollah
leader Nabil Qauq at Al-Khiam, where Israel kept prisoners during its
occupation of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah was credited with liberating the
area after Israel withdrew in 2000.'

2) "chomsky doesn't deny the holocaust"

I didn't say that Chomsky denied the Holocaust. But he engages in apologetics
for those who do, specifically Robert Faurisson, who he knew denied the
Holocaust yet termed him a "a relatively apolitical liberal of some sort" and
referred respectfully to his work as "extensive historical research."

3) "chomsky isn't an anti-semite"

I didn't say that Chomsky is an antisemite, but again, he throws in his lot
with blatant antisemites. For example, Chomsky praised the Israel Shahak, a
bizarre Israeli antisemite (really) who propagated slanders such as ""both
before and after a meal, a pious Jew ritually washes his hands....On one of
these two occasions he is worshipping God... but on the other he is
worshipping Satan." Chomsky praised Shahak on the cover of the book _in which
this quote appeared_ as "an outstanding scholar, with remarkable insight and
depth of knowledge" and went on to say "[h]is work is informed and
penetrating, a contribution of great value."

~~~
babeKnuth
hi shmulkey18, thnx for the replies and the research.

did you watch the vids i linked to? i placed them there because they
refute/clarify all the claims/mischaracterizations you mentioned and linked
to.

i can't force you to watch them, but i'll help you out even further:

1) in vid 1, at 4:15 in vid 1, at 3:30 in vid 2, at 0:45

2) and 3) in vid 2, at 2:55

enjoy

------
nir
Some of the most murderous dictators in recent century were celebrated by
Western intellectuals - Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao. There's nothing about being an
"intellectual", whatever this means, that makes you a better judge of reality.

~~~
rdtsc
Which is what Chomsky points out constantly in his writings -- how often
Western "intellectuals" cheer and march under the drum beat of government
propaganda, when one would expect them to expose and challenge the lies.

~~~
nir
All of these dictators were supported by Intellectuals taking a stance
diametrically opposed to own their government's.

------
fleitz
It's not a responsibility of intellectuals, it's a responsibility of
individuals to think critically about what they are being told and for the
most part ignore appeals to ethos and pathos. In theory the sophists were
wrong, but in practice they were right. Assume that when a person speaks it is
for their own personal benefit. Most people are talking their book.

~~~
babeKnuth
i agree with the first half. tho not necessarily with the second. i have no
idea where the illusion that writing books is a way to "get rich quick" came
from. more like "get rich never".

------
lwhi
Intellectualism is a luxury; those who are able to practice it should be aware
that many people are just trying to make ends meet.

~~~
Alex3917
Then again, the entire western intellectual tradition was started by a
stonemason.

------
babeKnuth
when i hear the word "intellectual", that's when i reach for my revolver...

------
mkramlich
It will be a sad day in America when this man passes on. One of my heroes
anyway, and I wish we had more like him.

~~~
babeKnuth
Be that which you admire.

------
warmfuzzykitten
Another rambling, incoherent account from the master of propspeak.

~~~
babeKnuth
interesting escher-esque self-referencing.

