What Is an Intellectual?
Abstract
The author defines the concept of an intellectual, & a public intellectual. This definition is created, in large measure, by contrasting the intellectual to other types of "knowers" such as prophets, scholars, scientists, experts, philosophers, & sophists. Each of these types embodies a different relationship between private knowledge or understanding & public action. The public intellectual is defined by a central paradox, by a compelling need to transform private contemplation into public practice. Yet, even as the public intellectual is dedicated to improving society, s/he is at the same time disdainful & even dismissive of it. This perspective of looking at society from the outside is an essentially modern characteristic; this should not surprise us because the public intellectual is an essentially modern figure. D. Knaff
Themen
Intellectuals, Knowledge Utilization, Modernity, Public Sphere
Sprachen
Englisch
Verlag
Rowman & Littlefield
Problem melden