Two of the 20th century's most influential thinkers debate a perennial question--is there such a thing as "innate" human nature independent of experiences and external influences?
Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor (emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Laureate Professor of Linguistics and Agnese Nelms Haury Chair in the Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona. A world-renowned linguist and political activist, he is the author of numerous books, including On Language: Chomsky's Classic Works Language and Responsibility and Reflections on Language; Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, edited by Peter R. Mitchell and John Schoeffel; American Power and the New Mandarins; For Reasons of State; Problems of Knowledge and Freedom; Objectivity and Liberal Scholarship; Towards a New Cold War: U.S. Foreign Policy from Vietnam to Reagan; The Essential Chomsky (edited by Anthony Arnove); and On Anarchismand The Withdrawal and On Cuba (both with Vijay Prashad), all published by The New Press. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Michel Foucault (1926-1984) was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. He held a chair in the history of systems of thought at the Collège de France and lectured at universities throughout the world. The New Press has published his books Aesthetics, Method, and Epistemology; Ethics; Power; and The Essential Foucault. Foucault's other books include Madness and Civilization, Discipline and Punish, The Order of Things, and The History of Sexuality.
