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The Treason of the Intellectuals

This book delves into the complex relationship between intellectuals and the public, exploring the moral obligations of those who shape public discourse and influence societal norms. more

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Julien Benda
Julien Benda

Julien Benda was a French philosopher born on December 26, 1867, and died on June 7, 1956. His philosophical thoughts were deeply influenced by German classical philosophy and the French philosophical tradition, particularly focusing on moral philosophy and aesthetics. more

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“Since the Greeks the predominant attitude of thinkers towards intellectual activity was to glorify it insofar as (like aesthetic activity) it finds its satisfaction in itself, apart from any attention to the advantages it may procure. Most thinkers would have agreed with Renan's verdict that the man who loves science for its fruits commits the worst of blasphemies against that divinity. The modern clercs have violently torn up this charter. They proclaim the intellectual functions are only respectable to the extent that they are bound up with the pursuit of concrete advantage.”

MenMayAttentionAttitudeModernWorstHe ManActivityIntellectualAdvantageFunctionFruitBoundsSatisfactionPursuitCommitGreekDivinityThinkerAestheticConcreteTornRespectableGlorifyBlasphemyCharterVerdictScience Love
Author:Julien Benda
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“The true clerc is Vauvenargues, Lamarck, Fresnel, Spinoza, Schiller, Baudelaire, César Franck, who were never diverted from single-hearted adoration of the beautiful and the divine by the necessity of earning their daily bread. But such clercs are inevitably rare. The rule is that the living creature condemned to struggle for life turns to practical passions, and thence to the sanctifying of those passions.”

BeautifulTurnsPassionStruggleDivineCreaturesPracticalsBreadEarningHeartedAdorationLiving CreaturesDaily BreadSpinozaBaudelaireSars
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“Philosophy, which formerly raised man to feel conscious of himself because he was a thinking being and to say, 'I think therefore I am," now raises him to say ... "I think, therefore I am not," (unless he takes thought into consideration only in that humble region where it is confused with action).”

ThinkingMenFeelsPhilosophyActionConsciousRaisesRaisedHumbleConfusedConsiderationRegions
Book:The Treason of the Intellectuals
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