Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena: Professors or Pundits? - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0268100241 ISBN 13: 9780268100247

Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press, 2016

Synopsis

What is a public intellectual? Where are they to be found? What accounts for the lament today that public intellectuals are either few in number or, worse, irrelevant? While there is a small literature on the role of public intellectuals, it is organized around various thinkers rather than focusing on different countries or the unique opportunities and challenges inherent in varied disciplines or professions. In Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena, Michael C. Desch has gathered a group of contributors to offer a timely and far-reaching reassessment of the role of public intellectuals in a variety of Western and non-Western settings. The contributors delineate the centrality of historical consciousness, philosophical self-understanding, and ethical imperatives for any intelligentsia who presume to speak the truth to power. The first section provides in-depth studies of the role of public intellectuals in a variety of countries or regions, including the United States, Latin America, China, and the Islamic world. The essays in the second section take up the question of why public intellectuals vary so widely across different disciplines. These chapters chronicle changes in the disciplines of philosophy and economics, changes that "have combined to dethrone the former and elevate the latter as the preeminent homes of public intellectuals in the academy." Also included are chapters that consider the evolving roles of the natural scientist, the former diplomat, and the blogger as public intellectuals. The final section provides concluding perspectives about the duties of public intellectuals in the twenty-first century.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"These essays from a stellar group of scholars in various disciplines collectively constitute an unmatched critical study of the public role of intellectuals in the United States. The chapters offer both historical and international comparisons. There is no better analysis of the complexity of the role of disciplined knowledge in contemporary public life." —Thomas Bender, New York University

"This is a first-rate contribution to the growing body of research on the phenomenon of public intellectuals. It clearly ranks high in a cohort of volumes that include Public Intellectuals: An Endangered Species? and The Public Intellectual and the Culture of Hope. Beyond appealing to public intellectuals, these essays are a rich interdisciplinary mix that will be of interest to scholars across a wide variety of fields in the social sciences and humanities." —Greg Russell, University of Oklahoma

What is a public intellectual? Where are they to be found? What accounts for the widely heard lament today that public intellectuals are decreasingly few in number or, worse, increasingly irrelevant? In Public Intellectuals in the Global Arena, Michael C. Desch has gathered a group of distinguished public thinkers to offer a timely and far-reaching reassessment of the role of public intellectuals in a variety of Western and non-Western settings. The contributors delineate the centrality of historical consciousness, philosophical self-understanding, and ethical imperatives for anyone who presumes to speak the truth to power or otherwise enrich our intellectual marketplace of ideas.

Contributors include: Michael C. Desch, Jeremi Suri, Andrew J. Bacevich, Willy Lam, Enrique Krauze, Ahmad S. Moussalli, Patrick Baert, J. Bradford DeLong, Paul Horwitz, Kenneth R. Miller, Gilles Andréani, Mark Lilla, Michael Zuckert, Patrick J. Deneen, and Vittorio Hösle

Michael C. Desch is professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and Director of the Notre Dame International Security Center.

About the Author

Michael C. Desch is professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0268100241
• ISBN 13: 9780268100247
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 424
• Editor: Desch Michael C.