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Introduction: Intellectuals in a Changing Society
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12370 |
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Section : |
MODERN THOUGHT
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1 / 1987 |
295 Words |
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The January section of Modern Thought takes as its special theme the troubled relationship of intellectuals to modern society. The essays by John Caiazza and John Judis deal with the attempts of two thinkers, with vastly different values, to change society. Despite the higher scholarly reputation of one of these two, Meyer and Gould shared the goal of harnessing scholarship to the cause of political activism. The contributions by Stanley Rothman, Wilfred McClay, and Paul Hollander all deal in more general terms with the role of intellectuals in modern society. All three writers draw a crucial implicit distinction between the intellectual as a fair and even self-critical spectator and as a mere partisan despiser of his society.
Russell Kirk in his picture (drawn from recollections) of Wyndham Lewis and T.S. Eliot unwittingly provides a polar opposite to the almost compulsive social rebels depicted by Rothman. In a certain sense, however, Lewis' and Eliot's less frenzied quest for social and cultural restoration kindled even in them an activist spirit characteristic of modern intellectuals.
The contributions by David Gress and Richard Thornton deal with the psychological component in East-West relations. Gress addresses some of the difficulties faced by modern Western societies in trying to grasp the intentions of Soviet leaders. Thornton advances and defends the proposition that Americans have spent too long pursuing pipe dreams of détente and too little time in negotiating workable, limited agreements on disarmament.
The essay by Aileen S. Kraditor examines a perceptive but generally neglected study by the Australian sociologist W.D.
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