The Chomsky - Foucault Debate: On Human Nature backdrop
The Chomsky - Foucault Debate: On Human Nature logo
1971·Documentary·1h 10m
7.1
The Chomsky–Foucault debate was a debate about human nature, between Noam Chomsky and Michel Foucault in the Netherlands, in November 1971. Chomsky and Foucault were invited by the Dutch philosopher Fons Elders to discuss an age-old question: "is there such a thing as 'innate' human nature independent of our experiences and external influences?"
debate

Cast

Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Himself
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Himself

Popular Reviews

4 reviews
Basheer
Basheer
The Chomsky - Foucault Debate: On Human Nature
Chomsky is an asshole but goddamn that linguistic theory is smart
Chomsky is an asshole but goddamn that linguistic theory is smart
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Nicolas Valenzuela
Nicolas Valenzuela
The Chomsky - Foucault Debate: On Human Nature
Mogged
Mogged
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Ari
Ari
The Chomsky - Foucault Debate: On Human Nature
Foucault beat Chomsky’s ass into submission lmao… prob the first time I’ve laughed at a debate just from how much one guy is taking his time to correct the position of the other subject of the debate. Definitely an excellent primer into the truly revolutionary world of Foucault’s thought. Chomsky shines most when he’s more shitting on Skinner than trying to tackle anything Foucault is saying but you definitely can’t discount what he presents in the first half despite the fact that Foucault totally tore him to shreds in the back half. 

Must say, I’m quite impressed by how this is shot and presented. Usually the cuts to the host and a host’s presentation takes you out of the discussion but he does a great job of cutting through repetition with fantastic summaries of Chomsky and Foucault’s positions.

Score is all around insignificant, just indicating that I enjoyed their discussion quite a bit.








Sexual tension is off the charts
Foucault beat Chomsky’s ass into submission lmao… prob the first time I’ve laughed at a debate just from how much one guy is taking his time to correct the position of the other subject of the debate. Definitely an excellent primer into the truly revolutionary world of Foucault’s thought. Chomsky shines most when he’s more shitting on Skinner than trying to tackle anything Foucault is saying but you definitely can’t discount what he presents in the first half despite the fact that Foucault totally tore him to shreds in the back half. 

Must say, I’m quite impressed by how this is shot and presented. Usually the cuts to the host and a host’s presentation takes you out of the discussion but he does a great job of cutting through repetition with fantastic summaries of Chomsky and Foucault’s positions.

Score is all around insignificant, just indicating that I enjoyed their discussion quite a bit.








Sexual tension is off the charts
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Ariadne
Ariadne
The Chomsky - Foucault Debate: On Human Nature
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Paul
Paul
The Chomsky - Foucault Debate: On Human Nature
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