The Responsibility of Intellectuals
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"The Responsibility of Intellectuals" is an essay by the US academic Noam Chomsky
which was published as a special supplement by The New York Review of Books
on the 23 February 1967.
The article is an attack on the intellectual culture in the United States which Chomsky argues is largely subservient to power. He is particularly critical of social scientists and technocrats who he believed were providing a pseudo-scientific justification for the crimes of the state in particular those relating to the Vietnam War
. He notes that those who opposed the war on moral rather than technical grounds are "often psychologists, mathematicians, chemists, or philosophers...rather than people with Washington contacts, who, of course, realize that 'had they a new, good idea about Vietnam, they would get a prompt and respectful hearing' in Washington."
The topic was inspired by articles of Dwight Macdonald
published after the Second World War who "asks the question: To what extent were the German or Japanese people responsible for the atrocities committed by their governments? And, quite properly...turns the question back to us: To what extent are the British or American people responsible for the vicious terror bombings of civilians, perfected as a technique of warfare by the Western democracies and reaching their culmination in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, surely among the most unspeakable crimes in history."
The article brought Chomsky to public attention as the leading American intellectual in the movement against the Vietnam war.
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
which was published as a special supplement by The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books is a fortnightly magazine with articles on literature, culture and current affairs. Published in New York City, it takes as its point of departure that the discussion of important books is itself an indispensable literary activity...
on the 23 February 1967.
The article is an attack on the intellectual culture in the United States which Chomsky argues is largely subservient to power. He is particularly critical of social scientists and technocrats who he believed were providing a pseudo-scientific justification for the crimes of the state in particular those relating to the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. He notes that those who opposed the war on moral rather than technical grounds are "often psychologists, mathematicians, chemists, or philosophers...rather than people with Washington contacts, who, of course, realize that 'had they a new, good idea about Vietnam, they would get a prompt and respectful hearing' in Washington."
The topic was inspired by articles of Dwight Macdonald
Dwight Macdonald
Dwight Macdonald was an American writer, editor, film critic, social critic, philosopher, and political radical.-Early life and career:...
published after the Second World War who "asks the question: To what extent were the German or Japanese people responsible for the atrocities committed by their governments? And, quite properly...turns the question back to us: To what extent are the British or American people responsible for the vicious terror bombings of civilians, perfected as a technique of warfare by the Western democracies and reaching their culmination in Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
and Nagasaki, surely among the most unspeakable crimes in history."
The article brought Chomsky to public attention as the leading American intellectual in the movement against the Vietnam war.