The Political Responsibility of Intellectuals

The Political Responsibility of Intellectuals addresses the many problems in defining the relationship of intellectuals to the society in which they live.

Ian MacLean (Edited by), Alan Montefiore (Edited by), Peter Winch (Edited by)

9780521398596, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 December 1990

332 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.64 kg

The Political Responsibility of Intellectuals addresses the many problems in defining the relationship of intellectuals to the society in which they live. In what respects are they responsible for, and to, that society? Should they seek to act as independent arbiters of the values explicitly or implicity espoused by those around them? Should they seek to advise those in public life about the way in which they should act, or should they withdraw from any form of political involvement? And how should their preoccupations with truth and language find practical expression? The contributors to this volume seek to provide tentative answers to these questions. They come from a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from economics to linguistics and sociology to philosophy, and are drawn from both America and Eastern and Western Europe. The volume is given a particular interest by recent political upheavals in Eastern Europe, where many intellectuals have been confronted with sharply practical, sometimes dramatic, choices about their role in the political arena.

Editorial preface Alan Montefiore
1. Introduction Peter Winch
2. La trahison de la trahison des clercs Ernest Gellner
3. The loss of responsibility Elemer Hankiss
4. Heritage and collective responsibility Jerzy Jedlicki
5. Power and wisdom: the expert as mediating figure in contemporary Polish history Jacek Kurczewski
6. Textual responsibility J. J. Lecercle
7. Politics, technology and the responsibility of the intellectuals David J. Levy
8. The intellectuals and the imitation of the masses Grahame Lock
9. Responsibility and the act of interpretation: the case of law Ian Maclean
10. The Hungarian intellectual and the choice of commitment of neutrality Miklos Molnar (translated by Ian Maclean)
11. The political responsibility of intellectuals Alan Montefiore
12. Intellectuals between politics and culture Jerzy Szacki
13. The political irresponsibility of intellectuals G. M. Tamas
14. Intellectuals and responsibility Edward Shils
Index of names.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS]