Public Intellectuals

A Study of Decline, With a New Preface and Epilogue

Richard A. Posner

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English

Harvard University Press
30 October 2003

Social classes; Politics & government; Political control & freedoms

In this timely book, the first comprehensive study of the modern American public intellectual--that individual who speaks to the public on issues of political or ideological moment--Richard Posner charts the decline of a venerable institution that included worthies from Socrates to John Dewey.

With the rapid growth of the media in recent years, highly visible forums for discussion have multiplied, while greater academic specialization has yielded a growing number of narrowly trained scholars. Posner tracks these two trends to their inevitable intersection: a proliferation of modern academics commenting on topics outside their ken. The resulting scene--one of off-the-cuff pronouncements, erroneous predictions, and ignorant policy proposals--compares poorly with the performance of earlier public intellectuals, largely nonacademics whose erudition and breadth of knowledge were well suited to public discourse.

Leveling a balanced attack on liberal and conservative pundits alike, Posner describes the styles and genres, constraints and incentives, of the activity of public intellectuals. He identifies a market for this activity--one with recognizable patterns and conventions but an absence of quality controls. And he offers modest proposals for improving the performance of this market--and the quality of public discussion in America today.

This paperback edition contains a new preface and and a new epilogue.

By: Richard A. Posner
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Edition: New edition
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 508g
ISBN: 9780674012462
ISBN 10: 0674012461
Pages: 464
Publication Date: 30 October 2003
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface, 2003 Introduction Part One: General Theoretical and Empirical Analysis 1. Setting the Stage 2. The Market for Public Intellectuals 3. Care and Insight 4. Prediction and Influence 5. More Public, Less Intellectual Part Two: Genre Studies 6. The Literary Critic as Public Intellectual 7. Political Satire 8. The Jeremiah School 9. The Public Philosopher 10. The Public Intellectual and the Law Conclusion: Improving the Market Epilogue, 2003 Acknowledgments Index

Richard A. Posner retired as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2017. He was previously a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.

Reviews for Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline, With a New Preface and Epilogue

It is an intense and often angry book, a high-spirited, richly provocative moral diatribe against trivialization of the national culture...This is an intense and studious book--brilliant with energy, commitment and proper zeal...Posner's mind is so acute and often so surgically ironic that his prose can be delightful.--Michael Pakenham Baltimore Sun (12/29/2001)