A British poll has named Noam Chomsky as the world’s leading intellectual:
Now an emeritus professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chomsky first became known for his theory of grammar developed at MIT in the 1950s, which held that the ability to form structured language is innate in the human mind.
He later became known for his political activism. He published his first collection of political writings in 1969, and has penned over 40 books.
Chomsky is the best example of the philosopher’s axiom: “if you can’t be right, be prolific.”
I’m surprised that Richard Rorty or John Milbank weren’t mentioned. Chomsky’s corpus is essentially finished, and while influential it’s certainly nothing as mainstreamed on the order of Derrida’s works. Umberto Eco came second, followed by Richard Dawkins (both credible picks) came in third. Vaclav Havel – the former Czech president – came in fourth, which I think is great. Not only is he a great intellectual, he’s a noted world political leader. It’s a rare to see a truly intelligent person rise to leadership, and Havel definitely impresses.
Of course in knocking Chomsky, I have to say that I love his response to the news:
Chomsky was unimpressed with the honour, telling The Guardian newspaper that polls were something “I don’t pay a lot of attention to,” adding that “it was probably padded by some friends of mine.”
Heh. Great response.