Subject: Public Intellectuals
From: Jim Rovira (jrovira@drew.edu)
Date: Tue Nov 20 2001 - 22:57:21 GMT
>
> So Will's worried about "section men".... So Jim thinks we might have
> every reason to fear ALL academics....
>
No, good lord, quite the opposite. I didn't say we had every reason to
fear _all_ academics, but I think it's equally a mistake to paint them
all in a terribly positive light (as Will's post seemed to).
But I'd agree with your lament about the lack of public intellectuals in
America. Stanley Fish is one, Noam Chomsky is one. Susan Sontag
qualifies too, but her reputation (I understand) is a lot better in
Europe than the US. But they're pathetically predictable in their
opinions. I think American academia takes for granted that it's at odds
with popular culture and settles into a mindset that refuses to engage
it self critically.
Umberto Eco wrote a pretty good essay about the lack of public
intellectuals in the US and the reasons for it...I'm curious what he
said (don't quite remember) and may try to dig it up :)
Jim
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