For reasons of state [Hardcover]

Noam Chomsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1973

Chomsky's major works now reissued by The New Press.

An essential record of Chomsky's political and social thought as it was sharpened during the upheavals in domestic and international affairs of the early 1970s, For Reasons of State includes articles on the war in Vietnam and the "wider war" in Laos and Cambodia, an extensive dissection of the Pentagon Papers, reflections on the role of force in international affairs, essays on civil disobedience and the use of the university, and a now-classic introduction to anarchism. These essays reveal very different facets of Chomsky's power as a thinker, from his uncanny ability to join abstract philosophical considerations with the concrete political realities of his time, to his singular capacity to mount withering, fact-based critiques of American foreign policy. Following the recent release of American Power and the New Mandarins, For Reasons of State is a major addition to the intellectual history of the Vietnam era.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Here Chomsky displays those qualities which exemplify the finest traditions of intellectual responsibility. -- The New York Times Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Noam Chomsky is Professor of Linguistics at MIT, a world-renowned linguist and political activist, and the author of numerous books, including On Language, American Power and the New Mandarins, and the collection Understanding Power (all from The New Press). Arundhati Roy (foreword) lives in New Delhi. She is the author of The God of Small Things and Power Politics (South End Press). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 440 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon Books; 1st edition (1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394483987
• ISBN-13: 978-0394483986
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,305,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Noam Chomsky is Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston. A member of the American Academy of Science, he has published widely in both linguistics and current affairs. His books include At War with Asia, Towards a New Cold War, Fateful Triangle: The U. S., Israel and the Palestinians, Necessary Illusions, Hegemony or Survival, Deterring Democracy, Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy and Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A seminal work on Vietnam, anarchism, and human nature, November 25, 2003

By 

SPM "scott_maykrantz" (Eugene, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For Reasons of State (Paperback)

In 1973, Noam Chomsky released this collection of expanded articles and new material. This was his second political book, published at the height of Vietnam war protests. The book begins with an in-depth examination of the Pentagon Papers. This confidential history of US policy toward Vietnam was made public in the late 1960s, leading to a lawsuit by the US government against the New York Times and other newspapers. The newspapers won (when midwestern papers started printing the confidential history, making the lawsuit irrelevant) and everyone was finally able to see what the Pentagon had been up to since the 1950s.

It's not a pretty picture. Chomsky quotes the Papers relentlessly, citing multiple versions of it. He lets the generals and politicians speak for themselves, revealing their real commitments, showing how they prevented democracy from breaking out in Vietnam in 1954. From there, he shows how the war expanded to Laos and Cambodia. The footnotes for these chapters are massive, citing hundreds of reliable sources. This section of the book is one of the best examinations of the Vietnam war you'll ever read, right up there with Gabriel Kolko's "Anatomy of a War" and Marilyn Young's "The Vietnam Wars."

Then Chomsky shifts gears. He writes a brief but powerful essay on war resistance and the role of universities as subversive institutions. These chapters show Chomsky's commitment to peaceful, intelligent, democratic protest --- and his honesty about its limitations.

The final chapters are about behaviorism, anarchism, and human nature. Although these topics are quite a change from the Vietnam war material at the beginning, they are no less impressive. Chomsky's review of BF Skinner's behaviorism completely demolishes the concept. This essay single-handedly brought the field to a halt in 1972. (Skinner responded once, failing to counter Chomsky's arguments, and behaviorism never recovered.) He even takes time to explain, in a single footnote, why Richard Herrnstein's study of IQ is useless (which made "The Bell Curve" irrelevant twenty years before it was written). Chomsky's notes on anarchism and his reflections on the mystery of human nature describe his underlying attitude about people and their relation to the state.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants an education on Vietnam or Noam Chomsky's political work. The lies of Vietnam --- and the illegitimate authority of the state --- continue today in new forms. This book will inspire you to activism, and to learn more.

29 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chosky at most passionate, June 10, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: For reasons of state (Hardcover)

"For reasons of state" and "American power"; both written at the height of the vietnam war are chomsky at his most passionate. The works are obvoiusly written when the hopes of real change in the power structures of society seemed like a real possiblity. The condemnations of US policy are fast and furiuos as Chomsky turns scrutizing State dept papers into calls to action. There is no punches pulled here, hopeful thoughts of future stuctures of human freedom are disscussed in chapters with titles such as "notes on anarchism."
Agree with him or not this is one of the few political books that can actually raise your heart rate.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Seminal Work With Relevant Lessons, January 29, 2010

By 

R. L. Huff "An old reader" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Reasons of State (Paperback)

Those wishing to understand the hijinks that led to the US invasion of Iraq can do no better in reviewing this seminal "nostalgia" piece on American war planning. Overcoming the "Vietnam syndrome" led right back to the quagmire, proof that those in power do not learn from history because they choose to ignore it.

The inaccurate ramblings of one reviewer - holding Chomsky somehow accountable for the Khmer Rouge coming to power after this collection of essays was published - demonstrate how atrocity reportage from postwar Indochina was consciously exploited to retroactively justify the war. Reading this review of the Pentagon Papers - over half the book - demonstrate that whatever befell the region later was established in Washington by men who cared not one bit for the nations and people they condemned to disaster.