Offers a critique about (but not for) intellectuals that explores their impact on public opinion, policy, and society at large. This title not only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged.
This book describes how intellectuals as a class affect modern societies by shaping the climate of opinion in which official policies develop--on issues ranging from economics to law to war and peace.