EUROPEAN/AMERICAN RELATIONS: WHO LEADS?
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and the stripping of religion of its intellectual authority as a result of los–
ing face in the ensuing controversy. The intellectual role thus devolved
on science. Most of the practicing scientists', physicists', and biologists'
curiosity led them in a different direction, at the same time making life
so interesting that they were perhaps the least bothered by the conflict–
ing pressures of modern society among all its denizens. But the literati
seized on the opportunity, and calling themselves "scientists"-social
scientists-claimed the authority of the intellectual role for themselves.
As there were no other claimants, writers of fiction dabbling in the artic–
ulation of American culture on the individual and, so to speak, on a vol–
unteer basis, without the support of numbers or formal title, social
scientists were granted this authority and became the intellectuals–
designate of the United States. Writers were pushed out: no longer
would sensitive people, perplexed, bothered, or curious about the work–
ings of society, attempt to understand it through fiction; they would
look to departments of economics, history, political science, and sociol–
ogy in the universities.
The " modern novel," as defined by Wharton, practically disap–
peared, as did literature as a serious intellectual preoccupation by both
authors and readers.
It
was transformed into a sort of entertainment for
high-brows, a form of aesthetic or psychological self-indulgence. But,
while they assumed the title, social scientists at first were unprepared to
fulfill the responsibility of intellectuals. Thus, the American nation,
which of all nations needs intellectuals most, while accommodating its
literati, was left without intellectuals.
To begin with, social scientists lacked the intellectual orientation:
they were not curious about society and were not interested in under–
standing it. They defined themselves-and became-social scientists
because of the status this implied: their chief interest was to strengthen
and safeguard this status. Indeed, the first order of business for the
nascent American historians, economists, political scientists, and sociol–
ogists, who busily branched off each other around the turn of the twen–
tieth century, was to form professional associations, though the
examples of physics and biology suggested that science could be prac–
ticed quite successfully without such trade unions. Social scientists also
led in the formation of the American Association of University Profes–
sors and, while physicists and biologists were occupied in their research,
they made sure that the life of the mind in America would have the secu–
rity of academic tenure. They focused on the rights of their newly
acquired position rather than on intellectual responsibilities.
