Professor Chomsky is among the leading thinkers across the globe over the last century. Conversations with Noam Chomsky bolsters this assertion. The book is a deft exploration into Chomsky’s views on the distinction between linguistic philosophy and the philosophy of language, consciousness, machines, the ethics of artificial intelligence in the wake of ChatGPT, the relationship between the heart and the mind, and the stakes of disciplines and canon formation for knowledge and human transformation. Language, ultimately, is the fulcrum of Chomsky’s thought, as is language for intellectuals such as Ludwig Wittgenstein, Sylvia Wynter, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. Teodros Kiros, esteemed Africana philosopher and interviewer, has done us a great service in bringing the best of Chomsky’s ideas in an exciting, accessible manner. Go and enjoy this book!

—Neil Roberts, Associate Dean of the Faculty, Williams College

These conversations remind us that philosophy is a pursuit in which all humans can engage. Chomsky speaks with his characteristic directness, exploring the perennial mysteries of mind and matter, recognizing the limits to human understanding. I was especially struck by his reminder, in speaking of 17th-century European philosophy, of the devastating consequences for conquered peoples of the determination that they had "souls." That verdict, as we come to see, was a moment in the long history of speculation on the central question of what distinguishes humans from other animals, on which reflection is here brought entertainingly down to earth in Chomsky's frequent allusions to the silent witnesses to the dialogues -- his two dogs!

           -- Victor Wallis, professor, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Berklee College of Music

About the Author

Teodros Kiros is a professor of Philosophy at Harvard Summer school, and at Berklee College of Music.  He has taught at Brown, Boston, Suffolk Universities and at Emerson College. He is the author of 23 books and hundreds of articles in academic journals, newspapers and magazines. He is also the producer of the television program, The Kiros Report, previously African Ascent.  The father of three children, Solonia, Ruwan and Caleb, he currently lives in Melrose, MA.