Intellectuals

There has been much heated debate among journalists, academics, and others recently on the question of who is an intellectual and whether there has been a decline in intellectual life. The trend now is toward a less prescriptive definition than the one previously accepted. The label intellectual now tends to be applied to individuals who employ their mind to learn, understand, think abstractly, or apply knowledge rather than allowing their emotions to dominate behavior, although modern psychology recognizes a more complex interrelationship between emotions and intellect, for instance, with respect to creativity. Those labeled as intellectuals are not necessarily associated with any particular field of endeavor, but they usually make some effort to communicate ideas to an audience either verbally, in writing, or artistically. Although there is no hard and fast division between intellectual and artistic life, intellectuals have usually been regarded as a separate group from artists.

[Page 396]The concept of intellectuals, therefore, usually includes philosophers and writers inspired by the archetypal model of the classical philosopher exemplified by the life and especially the death of Socrates. The inclusion of scientists, academics, and professionals is regarded as more problematic. It is important to note that although the term intellectual is used for convenience here, it was not employed as a noun until the late nineteenth century, by which time the concept of intellectuals as omnivorous polymaths was being seriously challenged by the specialization, institutionalization, and commensurate fragmentation of scholarly endeavor.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, designations such as man of letters, philosophe, philosopher, savant, and scholar were used to denote some of the characteristics we now associate with the noun intellectual. Intellectuals are sometimes combined together as a social class or grouping known as intelligentsia and held to comprise professionals such as teachers, artists, and academics, especially in France, Russia, and Central and Eastern Europe, where they have played a public role as political commentators. However, the concept of intelligentsia and the label intellectual are regarded much less favorably in Britain, the United States, and the English-speaking world, especially by right-wing commentators.

In the present context, we are primarily interested in public intellectuals as a social group rather than lone private figures as, in this form, intellectuals have had the greatest impact on urban society and urban studies. At least since the Enlightenment, intellectuals and intellectual communities have become primarily regarded as an urban-centered phenomenon, although this has not precluded, of course, residence in—nor inspiration from—the countryside. In fact it is ironic that many intellectuals, including William Wordsworth, Mathew Arnold, and John Ruskin, while making considerable use of urban networks, audiences, and experiences, made strong criticisms of modern urban society. In the rich and dense cultural interstices of urban-centered living, intellectuals have had a major impact in the modern world.

Some modern commentators have argued variously that there has been a decline in the quality of intellectual life, the number of intellectuals, or the opportunities for intellectuals to thrive in modern institutions such as universities. Developments in information technology have, to some extent, severed the link between intellectuals and urbanity, and it is now possible for remote or roving thinkers to remain part of a virtual global intellectual community with the aid of the World Wide Web. It has been argued that government institutions and other bodies can intervene to nurture the development of intellectual or creative communities in urban areas to further economic regeneration. This has encouraged renewed analysis of the cultural geography and urban contexts in which intellectual communities have thrived in the past. This entry begins with a look at history, then examines current issues.

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