Book, Excluded Third, The: contribution to dialectic anthropology[LS]

The former mayor of São Paulo and former Minister of Education mobilizes the main contemporary debates in biology, anthropology and linguistics and presents new theoretical bases for human emancipation. In October 2018, the then presidential candidate of the Republic Fernando Haddad received MIT professor Noam Chomsky at his home. Brazil was experiencing its most dramatic moment since redemocratization and the threat of an authoritarian turn was not perceived by a large part of voters. From the conversation about politics and linguistics came the provocation that gave rise to The Excluded Third. Chomsky's universalist theory states that it is possible to understand ourselves regardless of the culture in which we are inserted. What then explains the current outbreak of incommunicability, in which there seems to be no common denominator for public debate? What stops us from building a better future for everyone, with fewer material and spiritual needs? In this dense and provocative study, Haddad presents a new contribution to theories of human emancipation, from which a comprehensive line of political action can emerge. “An impressive tour de force, an update on the debate between disciplines as diverse as biology, linguistics and anthropology. Weaving complex dialogue between so many different perspectives has never been more necessary and The Excluded Third does this in a masterful and bold way.” — Sidarta Ribeiro