Intellect and public life : essays on the social history of academic intellectuals in the United States

Periodic Crises In Our Academic Culture Remind Us That The Organization Of Our Intellectual Life Is A Product Of History - Neither Fixed By The Logic Of Social Development Nor Inherent In The Nature Of Knowledge Itself. At A Time Of Much Unease In Academia And Among The General Public About The Relation Of Intellect To Public Life, Thomas Bender Explores Both The Nineteenth-century Origins And The Twentieth-century Configurations Of Academic Intellect In The United States. Intellect And Public Life Pays Special Attention To The Changing Relationship Of Academic To Urban Culture. Examining The Historical Tensions Faced By Intellectuals Who Aspired To Be At Once Academics And Citizens, Bender Traces The Growing Commitment Of Intellectuals To Professional Expertise And Autonomy. He Finds, As Well, A Historical Pattern Of Academic Withdrawal From The Public Discussion Of Matters Of General Concern. Yet The Volume Concludes On A Hopeful Note. With The Demise Of The Classical Republican Notion Of The Public, Bender Contends, There Has Emerged A More Pluralistic Notion Of The Public That - Combined With The Revival Of Interest In Pragmatic Theories Of Truth - May Offer The Possibility Of A Richer Collaboration Of Democracy And Intellect. Pt. 1. Nineteenth-century Origins Of Academic Culture -- The Cultures Of Intellectual Life: The City And The Professions -- Science And The Culture Of America Communities -- The Erosion Of Public Culture: Cities, Discourses, And Professional Disciplines -- Pt. 2. Twentieth-century Patterns -- E.r.a Seligman And The Vocation Of Social Science -- The Emergence Of The New York Intellectuals: Modernism, Cosmopolitanism, And Nationalism -- The Historian And Public Life: Charles A. Beard And The City -- Lionel Trilling And American Culture -- P.3. Conclusions And Reconsiderations -- Academic Knowledge And Political Democracy In The Age Of The University -- Epilogue. Thomas Bender. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Eight essays discuss the relation of urban patterns of intellectual life and academic forms of higher learning. Themes that run through the essays include: the increasing incorporation of academic culture into the center of American life, socially and intellectually, is accompanied and causally related to a progressive impoverishment of the public sphere; and intellectuals turned to academic culture as a hedge against the market--whether to insist upon the superiority of honor to market values, or for a sanctuary from intellectual chaos and competitiveness, or to purify and clarify discourse, even at the risk of social irrelevance. Part I contains three essays on 19th century origins of academic culture. The are: "The Cultures of Intellectual Life: The City and the Professions";"Science and the Culture of American Communities"; and "The Erosin of Public Culture: Cities, Discourses, and Professional Disciplines." Part ii focuses on 20th century patterns, in four essays: "E.R.A. Seligman and the Vocation of Social Science, ""The Emergence of the New York Intellectuals: Modernism, Cosmopolitanism, and Nationalism, ""The Historian and Public Life: Charles A. Beard and the City," and "Lionel Trilling and American Culture." A final essay is titled "Academic Knowledge and Political Democracy in the Age of the University." An epilogue concludes the volume. (Reference notes accompany each essay.) (Jdd) Thomas Bender explores both the nineteenth-century origins and the twentieth-century configurations of academic intellect in the United States. Periodic "crises" in our academic culture remind us that the organization of our intellectual life is a product of historyneither fixed by the logic of social development nor inherent in the nature of knowledge itself. At a time of much unease in academia and among the general public about the relation of intellect to public life, Thomas Bender explores both the nineteenth-century origins and the twentieth-century configurations of academic intellect in the United States. Intellect and Public Life pays special attention to the changing relationship of academic to urban culture. Examining the historical tensions faced by intellectuals who aspired to be at once academics and citizens, Bender traces the growing commitment of intellectuals to professional expertise and autonomy. He finds, as well, a historical pattern of academic withdrawal from the public discussion of matters of general concern. Yet the volume concludes on a hopeful note. With the demise of the classical republican notion of the public, Bender contends, there has emerged a more pluralistic notion of the public thatcombined with the revival of interest in pragmatic theories of truthmay offer the possibility of a richer collaboration of democracy and intellect. Contents Preface Acknowledgments I. Nineteenth-Century Origins of Academic Culture 1 The Cultures of Intellectual Life: The City and the Professions 2 Science and the Culture of American Communities 3 The Erosion of Public Culture: Cities, Discourses, and Professional Disciplines II. Twentieth-Century Patterns 4 E.R.A. Seligman and the Vocation of Social Science 5 The Emergence of the New York Intellectuals: Modernism, Cosmopolitanism, and Nationalism 6 The Historian and Public Life: Charles A. Beard and the City 7 Lionel Trilling and American Culture III. Conclusions and Reconsiderations 8 Academic Knowledge and Political Democracy in the Age of the University Epilogue Notes Index At a time of much unease in academia and among the general public about the relation of intellect to public life, Thomas Bender explores both the 19th-century origins and the 20th-century configurations of academic intellect in the United States. "Bender's positive, generous civil voice injects a soothing dose of optimism into current academic debates . . . ".--AMERICAN QUARTERLY.