What Are Intellectuals Good For? (Especially Now)
Added 2020-06-16 18:19:49 +0000 UTCIn this bonus episode, Matt and Sam think about thinking, with help from George Scialabba, CLR James, Irving Howe, and Lionel Trilling. How do intellectuals virtues like skepticism and doubt figure into moments of passion and protest? What does the moral obligation to be intelligent mean now? Along the way, Matt and Sam discuss the distorting effects of social media, centrist trolls, and the dangers of being too certain of one's uncertainty.
Further Reading:
Michael Walzer, et al., "Irving Howe at 100" (Dissent)
Irving Howe, "This Age of Conformity" (Dissent)
Irving Howe, "The New York Intellectuals" (Dissent)
George Scialabba, What Are Intellectuals Good For?
Lionel Trilling, The Moral Obligation to Be Intelligent
CLR James, Beyond a Boundary
Tobi Haslett, "The Private Intellectual," (from the New Yorker, On Scialabba)
Comments
Really enjoyed this episode and found it to unwittingly be one of the strongest, good-faith critiques of a new wave of liberal criticisms (Mounk, Williams, etc.) with whom I share sympathies (based on my experience of the "discourse" in recent undergraduate studies) but ultimately find their focus on intellectual energies not prudentially chosen in the economic and social crises before us. I'd also add that Michael Walzer, who very much emulated the posture of Trilling and Howe, played a 50%+ in shifting me away from conservatism.
David Jimenez
2020-08-30 13:10:46 +0000 UTCYou know, I probably heard more about him as a young conservative (because of his book True Believer) than I have during my time on the Left. Haven't thought about him in ages. (Matt)
Know Your Enemy
2020-07-09 00:48:23 +0000 UTCSpeaking of moralizing generalists, I’d love to hear you discuss actual working-class philosopher Eric Hoffer. He covered the “avoiding blame” angle of intellectuals years ago. “Sometimes a man writes a small book and a big book. In the small book he tells you everything he knows, and in the big book he tries to cover up everything he doesn’t know.”
Mark K
2020-07-05 20:52:00 +0000 UTCThank you for this discussion. One of my favorites from the Patreon so far. I think it’s so important to recall that dwelling with ambiguity or nuance is not betrayal, weakness, or quietism.
Benedict Wright
2020-06-28 02:59:31 +0000 UTCI'm a young, college-aged leftie that spends way too much time on Twitter. I spend an inordinate amount of time reflecting on this kind of Catholic guilt i feel as I try to figure out my own morality and worldview and how they fit within each other. This was really grounding for me and it reminded me that I'm not alone in that struggle. Thank you so much for this podcast, it really means a lot to me.
Lyon Teesdale
2020-06-18 17:32:30 +0000 UTCThank-you guys so much for the discussion of social media in this episode. It was so vital and put into words so many of my thoughts over the past several months, though more articulately.
Joel
2020-06-18 04:58:51 +0000 UTCAs always, love your discussion. It seemed to focus on the value of intellectuals compared with activists, those in the streets or those in traditional or social media. But it got me thinking of the value of intellectuals for those not (yet?) in the street - workers, busy families, generally those not devoted full-time to addressing moral or political problems. I got most interested in your conversation about George Scialabba’s “What Are Intellectuals Good For?” and specifically the story behind their decline and the need to become more specialized. It reminded me of former McKinsey consultant Anand Giridharadas’ “Winners Take All” which discusses how independent, critical public intellectuals have been replaced by “thought leaders” who do TED talks and make more money on their big ideas as business-friendly consultants. And it also reminds me of your episode on how academia and think tanks work. I bet so many fields have their own highly specific examples of how the power structure propaganda sausage is made. I have my own stories in entertainment, tech and marketing. I wonder if there are roles for industry or community-specific public intellectuals. How can this role be clarified and revived? Who does it today? I suppose it’s podcasts :) BTW, I found this link to Scialabba’s original essay, nicer than Amazon: http://georgescialabba.net/mtgs/1989/01/what-are-intellectuals-good-fo.html
bene
2020-06-17 00:27:56 +0000 UTC
