Noam Chomsky: “O han gbangba pe ẹda eniyan wa”

Ni gbogbo awọn agbegbe, iran rẹ lodi si awọn aṣa ọgbọn wa. Niwon akoko Levi-Strauss, Foucault ati Derid, a ti n wa awọn ami ti ominira ni ṣiṣu ti eniyan ati awọn aṣa ti o pọju. Chomsky, ni ida keji, ṣe aabo fun imọran ti ailagbara ti ẹda eniyan ati awọn ẹya ọpọlọ, ati pe ninu eyi ni o rii ipilẹ ti ominira wa.

Ti a ba jẹ ṣiṣu looto, o jẹ ki o han gbangba, ti a ko ba ni lile lile, a ko ni ni agbara lati koju. Ati pe lati le dojukọ ohun akọkọ, nigbati ohun gbogbo ti o wa ni ayika n gbiyanju lati fa idamu wa ati tuka akiyesi wa.

A bi ọ ni Philadelphia ni ọdun 1928. Awọn obi rẹ jẹ aṣikiri ti o salọ kuro ni Russia.

My father was born in a small village in our country. He left Russia in 1913 to avoid the conscription of Jewish children into the army — which was tantamount to a death sentence. And my mother was born in Belarus and came to the US as a child. Her family was fleeing the pogroms.

Bi ọmọde, o lọ si ile-iwe ti o ni ilọsiwaju, ṣugbọn ni akoko kanna gbe ni agbegbe ti awọn aṣikiri Juu. Bawo ni iwọ yoo ṣe ṣapejuwe oju-aye ti akoko yẹn?

My parents’ native language was Yiddish, but, oddly enough, I didn’t hear a single word of Yiddish at home. At the time, there was a cultural conflict between the proponents of Yiddish and the more «modern» Hebrew. My parents were on the Hebrew side.

Bàbá mi kọ́ni nílé ẹ̀kọ́, àti láti kékeré ni mo ti ń kẹ́kọ̀ọ́ rẹ̀ pẹ̀lú rẹ̀, ní kíka Bíbélì àti àwọn ìwé ìkẹ́kọ̀ọ́ òde òní lédè Hébérù. Ni afikun, baba mi nifẹ si awọn imọran titun ni aaye ẹkọ. Nitorinaa Mo wọ ile-iwe idanwo kan ti o da lori awọn imọran John Dewey.¹. Ko si awọn onipò, ko si idije laarin awọn ọmọ ile-iwe.

Nígbà tí mo ń bá a lọ láti kẹ́kọ̀ọ́ ní ilé ẹ̀kọ́ kíláàsì, nígbà tí mo pé ọmọ ọdún 12, mo rí i pé akẹ́kọ̀ọ́ tó dáńgájíá ni mí. Àwa nìkan ni ìdílé Júù tó wà ládùúgbò wa, àwọn Kátólíìkì Irish àti àwọn Násì ti Jámánì yí ká. A ko sọrọ nipa rẹ ni ile. Ṣugbọn ohun ajeji julọ ni pe awọn ọmọde ti o pada lati awọn kilasi pẹlu awọn olukọ Jesuit ti o sọ awọn ọrọ anti-Semitic amubina ni ipari ose nigba ti a yoo ṣe bọọlu afẹsẹgba patapata gbagbe nipa anti-Semitism.

Ṣé torí pé o ti dàgbà láwọn àgbègbè tí wọ́n ti ń sọ èdè púpọ̀ ló fi jẹ́ pé kíkọ́ èdè ni ohun pàtàkì nínú ìgbésí ayé rẹ?

Idi kan ti o jinlẹ gbọdọ ti wa ti o han gbangba si mi ni kutukutu: ede ni ohun-ini ipilẹ ti o mu oju lẹsẹkẹsẹ, o tọ lati ronu nipa iṣẹlẹ ti ọrọ.

Any speaker has learned a finite number of rules that allow him to produce an infinite number of meaningful statements. This is the creative essence of language, what makes it a unique ability that only people have. Some classical philosophers — Descartes and representatives of the Port-Royal school — caught this. But there were few of them.

Nigbati o bẹrẹ iṣẹ, structuralism ati ihuwasi jẹ gaba lori. Fun wọn, ede jẹ eto lainidii ti awọn ami, iṣẹ akọkọ ti eyiti o jẹ lati pese ibaraẹnisọrọ. O ko gba pẹlu ero yii.

Báwo ni ó ṣe jẹ́ pé a mọ ọ̀wọ̀ọ̀wọ́ àwọn ọ̀rọ̀ gẹ́gẹ́ bí ọ̀rọ̀ tí ó wúlò fún èdè wa? Nigbati mo mu awọn ibeere wọnyi, a gbagbọ pe gbolohun kan jẹ girama ti o ba jẹ pe o tumọ si nkankan. Ṣugbọn eyi kii ṣe otitọ rara!

Eyi ni awọn gbolohun ọrọ meji ti ko ni itumọ: “Awọn imọran alawọ ewe ti ko ni awọ sun ni ibinu”, “Awọn imọran alawọ ewe ti ko ni awọ sun oorun ni ibinu.” Gbolohun akọkọ jẹ otitọ, bi o tilẹ jẹ pe itumọ rẹ jẹ aiduro, ati keji kii ṣe asan nikan, ṣugbọn tun jẹ itẹwẹgba. Olùbánisọ̀rọ̀ yóò sọ gbólóhùn àkọ́kọ́ pẹ̀lú ọ̀rọ̀ ìtumọ̀ àkànṣe, àti ní èkejì yóò kọsẹ̀ lórí gbogbo ọ̀rọ̀; pẹlupẹlu, oun yoo ranti gbolohun akọkọ ni irọrun diẹ sii.

Kini o jẹ ki gbolohun akọkọ jẹ itẹwọgba, ti kii ṣe itumọ? Òtítọ́ náà pé ó bá ìlànà àgbékalẹ̀ kan mu àti àwọn ìlànà fún ṣíṣe àgbékalẹ̀ gbólóhùn kan tí èdè ìbílẹ̀ èyíkéyìí ní.

How do we move from the grammar of every language to the more speculative idea that language is a universal structure that is naturally «built into» every human being?

Let’s take the function of pronouns as an example. When I say «John thinks he’s smart,» «he» can mean either John or someone else. But if I say «John thinks he’s smart,» then «him» means someone other than John. A child speaking this language understands the difference between these constructions.

Awọn idanwo fihan pe bẹrẹ lati ọdun mẹta, awọn ọmọde mọ awọn ofin wọnyi ati tẹle wọn, bi o tilẹ jẹ pe ko si ẹnikan ti o kọ wọn. Nitorinaa o jẹ nkan ti a ṣe sinu wa ti o jẹ ki a ni anfani lati loye ati ṣe afiwe awọn ofin wọnyi funrararẹ.

Eyi ni ohun ti o pe ni girama agbaye.

O jẹ akojọpọ awọn ilana ti ko yipada ti ọkan wa ti o gba wa laaye lati sọ ati kọ ede abinibi wa. Gírámà àgbáyé wà nínú àwọn èdè kan pàtó, tí ó sì ń fún wọn ní àkópọ̀ àwọn ohun tí ó ṣeeṣe.

So, in English and French, the verb is placed before the object, and in Japanese after, so in Japanese they don’t say “John hit Bill”, but only say “John hit Bill”. But beyond this variability, we are forced to assume the existence of an «internal form of language», in the words of Wilhelm von Humboldt.²ominira ti olukuluku ati asa ifosiwewe.

Ni ero rẹ, ede ko tọka si awọn nkan, o tọka si awọn itumọ. O jẹ counter-ogbon, abi?

Ọkan ninu awọn ibeere akọkọ ti imọ-jinlẹ beere funrararẹ ni ibeere ti Heraclitus: ṣe o ṣee ṣe lati tẹ sinu odo kanna lẹẹmeji? Bawo ni a ṣe pinnu pe eyi jẹ odo kanna? Lati oju-ọna ti ede, eyi tumọ si bibeere funrararẹ bawo ni awọn ẹya meji ti o yatọ nipa ti ara ṣe le ṣe afihan nipasẹ ọrọ kanna. O le yi kemistri rẹ pada tabi yi sisan rẹ pada, ṣugbọn odo kan yoo jẹ odo.

On the other hand, if you set up barriers along the coast and run oil tankers along it, it will become a «channel». If you then change its surface and use it to navigate downtown, it becomes a «highway». In short, a river is primarily a concept, a mental construct, not a thing. This was already emphasized by Aristotle.

Ni ọna ajeji, ede kanṣoṣo ti o ni ibatan si awọn nkan ni taara ni ede ti awọn ẹranko. Iru iru ati iru igbe ti ọbọ, ti o tẹle pẹlu iru ati iru awọn agbeka, yoo ni oye lainidi nipasẹ awọn ibatan rẹ bi ifihan ti ewu: nibi ami naa tọka si awọn nkan taara. Ati pe o ko nilo lati mọ ohun ti n ṣẹlẹ ninu ọkan ọbọ lati ni oye bi o ṣe n ṣiṣẹ. Ede eniyan ko ni ohun ini yii, kii ṣe ọna itọkasi.

O kọ ero naa pe iwọn awọn alaye ni oye wa ti agbaye da lori bi ọrọ ti ede wa ṣe lọpọlọpọ. Lẹhinna ipa wo ni o fi si awọn iyatọ ede?

If you look closely, you will see that the differences between languages ​​are often superficial. Languages ​​that do not have a special word for red will call it «the color of blood.» The word «river» covers a wider range of phenomena in Japanese and Swahili than in English, where we distinguish between a river (river), a stream (brook) and a stream (stream).

But the core meaning of «river» is invariably present in all languages. And it has to be, for one simple reason: children don’t need to experience all the variations of a river or learn all the nuances of the term «river» in order to have access to this core meaning. This knowledge is a natural part of their mind and is equally present in all cultures.

Ṣe o mọ pe o jẹ ọkan ninu awọn ọlọgbọn ti o kẹhin ti o faramọ imọran ti aye ti ẹda eniyan pataki kan?

Laisi iyemeji, ẹda eniyan wa. A kii ṣe ọbọ, a kii ṣe ologbo, a kii ṣe ijoko. O tumọ si pe a ni ẹda ti ara wa, eyiti o ṣe iyatọ wa. Ti ko ba si ẹda eniyan, iyẹn tumọ si pe ko si iyatọ laarin emi ati alaga. Eleyi jẹ yeye. Ati ọkan ninu awọn ẹya ipilẹ ti ẹda eniyan ni agbara ede. Eniyan gba agbara yii lakoko ti itankalẹ, o jẹ ihuwasi ti eniyan gẹgẹbi ẹda ti ibi, ati pe gbogbo wa ni dọgbadọgba.

Ko si iru ẹgbẹ awọn eniyan ti agbara ede yoo kere ju awọn iyokù lọ. Bi fun iyatọ kọọkan, kii ṣe pataki. Ti o ba mu ọmọ kekere kan lati ẹya Amazon ti ko ti ni olubasọrọ pẹlu awọn eniyan miiran fun ọdun XNUMX sẹhin ti o si gbe lọ si Paris, yoo sọ Faranse ni kiakia.

Ni awọn aye ti dibaj ẹya ati awọn ofin ti ede, o paradoxically ri ohun ariyanjiyan ni ojurere ti ominira.

Eyi jẹ ibatan pataki. Ko si ẹda laisi eto awọn ofin.

Orisun kan: imoye irohin

^1. John Dewey (1859-1952) jẹ ọlọgbọn ara ilu Amẹrika kan ati olukọni imotuntun, onimọran eniyan, alatilẹyin ti pragmatism ati ohun elo.

^2. Prussian philosopher ati linguist, 1767-1835.