Mommy, what's an intellectual?

[Jim Farmelant]

As I understand it the term "intellectual" as a label for a stratum
of persons did not come into use until the time of the Dreyfus
case in France, at the end of the 19th century, and the term
was originally used mainly be conservative publicists to
disparage the collection of writers, professors, and
professional men, who had come to the defense of
Dreyfus. 

Jim F.

On Sun, 8 Jul 2001 18:37:25 -0400 Gordon Fitch <gcf at panix.com> writes:
> Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema:
> > An example of "populism," as discussed recently here, at its worst.
> > > The most revealing response was supplied by the American writer 
> Joyce
> > > Carol Oates. 'The term "intellectual" is a very self-conscious 
> one in
> > > the United States,' she said. 'To speak of oneself as an
> > > "intellectual" is equivalent to arrogance and egotism, for it 
> suggests
> > > that there is a category of persons who are "not-intellectual".'
> > > ...
> 
> "Suggests" is incorrect.  If one constructs a meaningful
> category of intellectuals, perforce there must as well be a
> non-empty category of non- or unintellectuals, who presumably
> do not do or cannot do the things intellectuals do.  But what
> do intellectuals do that other kinds of people don't do?
> 

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