What Kind of Creatures Are We?

Outline

What Kind of Creatures Are We? (2016) brings together Noam Chomsky’s reflections on some of the deepest questions about human nature. He explains his view that language is first of all an instrument of thought, built on an inborn capacity that all humans share, and explores what science can and cannot tell us about the mind. The book also considers the kind of society that best serves human freedom and the common good.

• Chomsky argues that language is first of all an instrument of thought, not merely a tool for communicating with others.
• Language rests on an inborn capacity that all humans share, which points to a common human nature.
• The book asks what science can and cannot tell us about the human mind.
• It also considers what kind of society best serves human freedom and the common good.

Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, and public intellectual, often described as the father of modern linguistics. He spent most of his career at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he developed influential theories about the structure of language and the mind. He has written more than one hundred books, including Syntactic Structures and What Kind of Creatures Are We?