UNSPECIFIED (2004) Intellectuals: an endangered species in the twenty-first century? In: Dynamics of Ideas Workshop, Bristol, ENGLAND, NOV 07-08, 2003. Published in: ECONOMY AND SOCIETY, 33 (4). pp. 463-483.

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Abstract

This article surveys the problems facing the existence of intellectuals in the twenty-first century by reflecting on the historical and conceptual conditions that have enabled them to flourish in the past but less so in recent times. The first part considers several strands of contemporary philosophical and social thought that, despite their progressive veneer, have served to undermine the legitimacy of the intellectual's role. This delegitimation is largely traceable to a scepticism about the existence of ideas that are simultaneously normative and manipulable. The second part deals with the rise of anti-intellectualism in philosophy and psychology in the twentieth century, focusing especially on the debates surrounding 'psychologism'. The third part examines what remains the most attractive expression of antiintellectualism, namely, invisible-hand thinking and its late nineteenth-century transformation through the influence of statistics, evolution and epidemiology. In the conclusion, the main strands of the argument are drawn together in a sketch of an overall account of the rise and fall of the intellectual in the modern era. Finally, I provide one strategy for stemming the current tide of anti-intellectualism by reinterpreting the currently popular concept of 'heuristics'.

Item Type:	Conference Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Journal or Publication Title:	ECONOMY AND SOCIETY
Publisher:	ROUTLEDGE TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
ISSN:	0308-5147
Official Date:	November 2004
Volume:	33
Number:	4
Number of Pages:	21
Page Range:	pp. 463-483
Identification Number:	10.1080/0308514042000285242
Publication Status:	Published
Title of Event:	Dynamics of Ideas Workshop
Location of Event:	Bristol, ENGLAND
Date(s) of Event:	NOV 07-08, 2003
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/7866

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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