
The Treason of the Intellectuals
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 27. October 2017
Book
Hardback
202 pages
978-1-138-53917-4 (ISBN)
Description
Julien Benda's classic study of 1920s Europe resonates today. The "treason of the intellectuals" is a phrase that evokes much but is inherently ambiguous. The book bearing this title is well known but little understood. This edition is introduced by Roger Kimball.
From the time of the pre-Socratics, intellectuals were a breed apart. They were non-materialistic knowledge-seekers who believed in a universal humanism and represented a cornerstone of civilized society. According to Benda, this all began to change in the early twentieth century. In Europe in the 1920s, intellectuals began abandoning their attachment to traditional philosophical and scholarly ideals, and instead glorified particularisms and moral relativism.
The "treason" of which Benda writes is the betrayal by the intellectuals of their unique vocation. He criticizes European intellectuals for allowing political commitment to insinuate itself into their understanding of the intellectual vocation, ushering the world into "the age of the intellectual organization of political hatreds." From the savage flowering of ethnic and religious hatreds in the Middle East and throughout Europe today to the mendacious demand for political correctness and multiculturalism on college campuses everywhere in the West, the treason of the intellectuals continues to play out its unedifying drama.
From the time of the pre-Socratics, intellectuals were a breed apart. They were non-materialistic knowledge-seekers who believed in a universal humanism and represented a cornerstone of civilized society. According to Benda, this all began to change in the early twentieth century. In Europe in the 1920s, intellectuals began abandoning their attachment to traditional philosophical and scholarly ideals, and instead glorified particularisms and moral relativism.
The "treason" of which Benda writes is the betrayal by the intellectuals of their unique vocation. He criticizes European intellectuals for allowing political commitment to insinuate itself into their understanding of the intellectual vocation, ushering the world into "the age of the intellectual organization of political hatreds." From the savage flowering of ethnic and religious hatreds in the Middle East and throughout Europe today to the mendacious demand for political correctness and multiculturalism on college campuses everywhere in the West, the treason of the intellectuals continues to play out its unedifying drama.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-138-53917-4 (9781138539174)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Julien Benda | Roger Kimball
The Treason of the Intellectuals
E-Book
09/2017
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download

Julien Benda | Roger Kimball
The Treason of the Intellectuals
E-Book
09/2017
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download

Julien Benda | Roger Kimball
The Treason of the Intellectuals
Book
10/2006
1st Edition
Routledge
€71.50
Shipment within 10-15 days
Persons
Julien Benda, Roger Kimball
Content
Introduction to the Transaction Edition
Translator's Note
Author's Foreword
1 The Modern Perfecting of Political Passions
2 Significance of this Movement-Nature of Political Passions
3 The "Clerks"-The Great Betrayal
4 Summary-Predictions
Notes
Translator's Note
Author's Foreword
1 The Modern Perfecting of Political Passions
2 Significance of this Movement-Nature of Political Passions
3 The "Clerks"-The Great Betrayal
4 Summary-Predictions
Notes