Table Of ContentThe Price of Public Intellectuals
doi: 10.1057/9781137385024.0001
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doi: 10.1057/9781137385024.0001
The Price of
Public Intellectuals
Raphael Sassower
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, USA
doi: 10.1057/9781137385024.0001
© Raphael Sassower 2014
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
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save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saff ron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Th e author has asserted his right to be identifi ed as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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www.palgrave.com/pivot
doi: 10.1057/9781137385024
Dedicated to the memory of Shoshana Reich
who inspired me to think about public intellectuals
doi: 10.1057/9781137385024.0001
Contents
Preface viii
Acknowledgments xiv
1 The Myth of “Speaking Truth to Power” 1
1.1 The Quaker statement 2
1.2 Greek archetypes: Socrates’
Trial and Plato’s Republic 4
1.3 Intellectuals and public intellectuals 9
1.4 Whistle-blowers and
hacktivists 13
1.5 Truth in the postmodern age 17
2 A Variety of Intellectual Experiences 22
2.1 Preamble 23
2.2 Prophets and Übermenschen 24
2.3 Gadflies, martyrs, and
philosopher-kings 27
2.4 Clerks and politically
responsible 31
2.5 Unattached/witnesses and
organic/connected 34
2.6 Specialized and universal 38
2.7 Jesters, sophists, and amateurs 41
2.8 Legislators, interpreters,
and translators 45
2.9 Strangers, nomads, and
spokespersons 49
2.10 Reckless celebrities, rappers,
and bloggers 51
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Contents vii
3 Four Standard Approaches 58
3.1 The demise of intellectuals and American
anti-intellectualism 59
3.2 Sociological approach 69
3.3 Political approach 76
3.4 Psychological approach 83
3.5 Economic approach 86
3.6 Academic freedom and free speech 91
4 Certified Public Intellectuals 97
4.1 Posner’s list 98
4.2 F oreign Policy’s 2012 and Prospect
Magazine’s 2013 lists 101
4.3 Questionnaire and interviews 105
5 Intellectual Welfare 115
Appendix: Lists of Public Intellectuals 123
Bibliography 128
Index 134
doi: 10.1057/9781137385024.0001
Preface
No matter how hard we try to separate our thinking from
our feeling, it doesn’t work. To be passionate about an idea
is an affirmation that we are wired in such a way that our
thinking elicits an emotional response. Critical thinking is
indeed the culmination of this prewired process, bringing
about a heightened sense of passion. I recall years ago when
one of my professors turned to me in an elevator and asked
me to never lose my sense of inner anger. Perhaps by now I
can appreciate what he meant: Keep on reading, thinking,
and writing as if something personal is at stake! It is a plea
to be passionate (not necessarily angry) about what you
are studying, about what is important for us. In my case it
has been philosophy, but I have also encountered those for
whom passion was directed toward cultivating the land or
renovating old buildings.
At some point of every thinker’s life, there is a moment
of self-reflection about the role played by intellectuals. The
reflection may be a comment on the margins of a discus-
sion about an important topic – important, of course, to
the author. It may become more elaborate when the author
explains a life of letters. These moments demand some
introspection – the kind scholars commonly shy away
from because it’s seemingly irrelevant to their research. It’s
as if they all recall Moliere’s observation that we use prose
to express ourselves, too obvious to notice, yet important
to recognize.
Beyond this personal level, there is also the level of
action: If you think of yourself as an intellectual, if you
acknowledge your responsibility as a thinker, how does
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Preface ix
this responsibility manifest itself? Who else are you responsible to, if
anyone at all? There are those among us who claim that they write for
themselves, as if the very activity – the process of reading, thinking, and
writing – is an aesthetic experience tinged with enjoyment. In this case,
the audience is indeed one. If, on the other hand, the audience includes
one’s students or readers, family, friends, and neighbors, then the ques-
tion of responsibility is transformed into a moral one: What will awaken
others from their cognitive slumber?
At this second-level self-reflection, one’s identity as an intellectual
takes on a different, expanded dimension. Moving beyond the self and
the subject matter, this added layer of responsibility is one which is dif-
ficult to control: Will the audience hear me? If they do, will they hear
me the way I want to be heard? Control is swiftly taken away, and the
best one can hope for is that some in the audience will appreciate what
is being said or written the way it was intended. So, now we are explor-
ing intentions: Are they pure or manipulating, true (in some sense) or
propagandistic? Can we tell the difference? Is the intellectual, in this
shift to sharing with a public (however narrowly or widely defined), still
responsible for the perception of the ideas or concepts or critiques as
they were originally meant?
In 2006 my friend and I bought a small paper in the Rocky Mountains
(Colorado) and turned it into a weekly with a circulation of 10,000. On
a weekly basis I had the opportunity, under the Publisher’s Note, to rail
against the war in Iraq (and other issues of the day). We published, on
opposite pages, weekly cartoons from the political right and left that
made waves on the Internet. It was an effort to make a difference, one
that lasted only about a year because our monthly losses got out of
hand. We shut down in early 2008, feeling that we had at least tried to
reach laid-back, pot-smoking, and ski lovers of this region a taste of an
edgy national critique. Did we make a difference? Did anyone hear us?
Perhaps if they had they would have helped fund the effort, or at least
sent letters of support. Perhaps the high altitude had something to do
with the lethargic response. I miss my soapbox, my corner in the public
commons.
For over a year, starting in the spring of 2011, I volunteered to write a
weekly column for a small paper. I was excited to write critically about
a variety of topics, local and national. After one-and-a-half years, my
contributions became more sporadic, but still allow a critical engage-
ment with a public different from my familiar academic surroundings
doi: 10.1057/9781137385024.0002
