Public intellectuals can alter the course of events, even after their time
by AC Grayling / April 24, 2013 / Leave a commentPublished in May 2013 issue of Prospect Magazine
Intellectuals offer exactly what the public conversation needs
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If it was once said that the word “intellectual” made despisers of the term reach for their guns, the term “public intellectual” assuredly makes them reach for a bomb. To critics, the term connotes the cheap and easy option of pontification, of commentary without responsibility, rather like the luxury enjoyed by a political party in opposition—the luxury of having to move nothing but your lips.
To those who, on the other hand, see the importance of a lively public conversation about all that presses, it is Ralph Emerson’s idea that recommends itself: the idea of individuals who are acquainted with both history and the history of ideas, who can take from them insights of relevance to the present, and who can effectively communicate new ideas and insights as a result.
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Garreth Byrne
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