Notes on the American
Intelligentsia
J.
F. WOLPERT
T HOUGH THE ROLE
and function of the intellectuals in the modem
world has been much discussed of late, there has been surprisingly
little analysis of the distinctiveness of this social group as it operates
within the American culture. What studies we have are characterized
by an impressionism not very useful for systematic analysis. The lack
of such material is in itself sociologically significant, showing that
the American intelligentsia has moved on the periphery rather than
within the mainstream of our social life.
The category "intellectuals" has been amorphous and ill-defined.
It has been taken to ·include, or exclude, a host of groups as befits
the particular bias of the writer dealing with the problem. It is there–
fore incumbent upon us to formulate our definition as explicitly as
possible. We may begin the characterization of this group--taken as
a whole- by saying that its main concern is with the production and
dissemination of ideas in their broadest connotations. Ideas we may
define both as the stored body of kl}owledge from the past of which
our colleges and universities are the official transmitters and the
contributions of the humanities as well as the social and natural
sciences not as yet sanctioned by tradition. The latter of course have
their main source outside the academy. Further, it is important,
when using our definition of ideas, to distinguish them from folk
beliefs and the uncritically accepted assumptions and stereotypes of
nonintellectual social strata.
What characterizes the intellectuals, then, is their need for a
critical attitude lifting the t)!pe of knowledge they are concerned with
to the level of ideas. This is an attitude shared by
all
divisions of
intellectuals. Also, their concentration upon ideas, even those of the
strident sort lately propounded by the Nazi intellectual apologists,
tends toward universality.
If
the times are propitious for their ac–
ceptance, neither national frontiers nor ethnic background can pre–
vent their finding wider and wider audiences.
The great German sociologist, Max Weber, distinguished in his
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