Noam Chomsky is one of the leading intellectual figures of modern times.He has had a major influence on linguistics,psychology and philosophy,and a significant effect on a range of other disciplines from anthropology to mathematics,education to literary criticism. In this rigorous yet accessible account of Chomsky s work and influence,Neil Smith analyses Chomsky s key contributions to the study of language and the study of mind.He gives a detailed and partly historical exposition of Chomsky s linguistic theorizing,and examines the ideas for which he is best known.Smith discusses the psychological and philosophical implications of Chomsky s work,and argues that he has fundamentally changed the way we think of ourselves,gaining a position in the history of ideas on a par with that of Darwin of Descartes.Finally,he examines Chomsky s political ideas and how these fit intellectually with his scholarly work.Smith argues that,despite Chomsky s own disavowal of any very close connection,there are fundamental ideas of rationality,creativity and modularity that draw together the disparate strands of his vast output.Throughout,Smith explores the coutroversy surrounding Chomsky s work,and explains why he has been both adulated and vilified. This much needed book will be welcomedby a wide range of readers:students and researchers in linguistics,philosophy,psychology,cognitive science and politics,and anyone with an interest in the impact of Chomsky s work.

《语言与心智(第3版)》主要内容：This is the long-awaited third edition of Chomsky' s outstanding collection of essays on Language and mind. The first six chapters, originally published in the 1960s, made a groundbreaking contribution to linguistic theory. This new edition complements them with an additional chapter and a new preface, bringing Chomsky' s influential approach into the twenty-first century. Chapters 1-6 present Chomsky's early work on the nature and acquisition of language as a genetically-endowed, biological system （Universal Grammar）, the rules and principles of which we acquire as internalized knowledge （I-language）. Over the past fifty years, this framework has sparked an explosion of inquiry into a wide range of languages, and has yielded some major theoretical questions. The final chapter revisits the key issues, reviewing the "biolinguistic" approach that has guided Chomsky' s work from its origins to the present day, and raising some novel and exciting challenges for the study of language and mind.

本书为乔姆斯基文之一。本文集所译介的几著作分别成书于不同期均为乔姆斯基政治评论的表作基本上涵盖了作者政治理论的核心体系，探讨了美国自越战、海湾战争、“9·11”事件以来的对外政策走向，其是对于一向自我标榜为“价值中立”的美国媒体和舆论界进行了强有力的批判，并进而对当今世界的最大热点问题之一——恐怖主义——现状和成因进行了深刻的分析，有助于内学人及广大读者更深入地了解西方尤其是美国的政治、外交、军事政策。

诺姆·乔姆斯基任教于美国麻省理工学院(MIT)的语言学和哲学系，是该校为数不多的学院教授之一。他是世界著名的语言学家、哲学家、政治活动家和评论家。自上个世纪50年代以来，乔姆斯基以其诸多论著而成为当代语言学、政治、认知心理学和哲学领域中的核心人物。本书是乔姆斯基的语言学文集，书中这些论著全面阐述了乔姆斯基语言哲学思想的本质和内容。希望这本选集有助于增进学界对乔姆斯基语言哲学的进一步了解，并为一般读者深入阅读乔姆斯基的作品提供方便。