In 1971, amidst the raging political insecurity surrounding the Vietnam War, activist and linguist Noam Chomsky was invited to partake in a debate with French philosopher Michel Foucault on the topic of Human Nature.

The discussion, primarily focused on the concept of whether there is an intrinsic quality to human nature, or if it’s completely conditioned from external influences, was aired on Dutch television, and later transcribed and published as the Chomsky – Foucault debate.

This excerpt, dissects the notion of justice versus power. Each of the intellectual heavyweights stay true to their respective dogmas; Chomsky’s long standing position that absolute power corrupts, and Foucault’s disdain and criticism of psychiatry, but the results are terrifically interesting.

The book not only has a transcription of this debate, but additional original text from Chomsky, and a new introduction by Foucault scholar John Rajchman.