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 enlarge | Author: Richard Hofstadter
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 13868
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0394703170
Dewey Decimal Number: 917.3
EAN: 9780394703176
ASIN: 0394703170
Publication Date: February 12, 1966
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| Customer Reviews:
 Fear of Intellect June 1, 2006
19 out of 20 found this review helpful
I am always amazed how ordinary Americans who say they believe in education find that those who are educated are members of an "elite." As if that meant something bad. Hofstadter unveils our schizophrenia over being educated and our parallel discourse of how we feel that it is undemocratic (in the old sense of the word)to be "smarter" than others because of "book learning." It is an old mistrust, yet we flock to colleges and universities anyway to do exactly that. Very strange conflicts run through American culture when we raise the old fear of being "better than others" because we have received an education. Excellent and insightful book, and still relevant today.
 What's an intellectual to do in "practical" America ? May 10, 2005
76 out of 76 found this review helpful
"The age of philosophy has passed...that of utility has commenced..." said an orator at Yale in 1844. Richard Hofstadter uses this telling quote and well as a wealth of other information to show how a thread of anti-intellectualism runs through the history and culture of "practical" America. He dissects anti-intellectualism, goes into its history and origins in the US, and shows its impact in education, politics, and business. This thorough analysis won him the 1964 Pulitzer Prize in Non-Fiction.
Hofstadter is careful to define what he means by the intellect and intellectuals. The intellect is the critical, creative, contemplative side of mind that examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes, questions, imagines. It is the province of writers, critics, skeptics, professors, scientists, editors, journalists, lawyers and clergymen. Just being a "mental technician" in these fields is not enough; one also acts as an active custodian of values like reason and justice and truth.
Unfortunately, America's practical culture has never embraced intellectuals. The intellectuals' education and expertise are viewed as a form of power or privilege. Intellectuals are seen as a small arrogant elite who are pretentious, conceited, snobbish. Geniuses' are described as eccentric, and their talents dismissed as mere cleverness. Their cultured view is seen as impractical, and their sophistication as ineffectual. Their emphasis on knowledge and education is viewed as subversive, and it threatens to produce social decadence.
Instead, the anti-intellectuals believe that the plain sense of the common man is altogether adequate and superior to formal knowledge and expertise from schools. The truths of the heart, experience, and old-fashioned principles of religion, character, instinct, and morality are more reliable guides to life than education. After all, we idolize the self-made man in America.
Hofstadter goes on to cite examples of anti-intellectualism from the nations founding to today. For example, the founding fathers were sages, scientists, and men of cultivation, yet the Federalists attacked the brilliant Thomas Jefferson by portraying the curiosity of his active mind as too trivial and ridiculous for important affairs. Today, military ability is the kind of test of character which is viewed as good for political leadership, and voters view a show of intellect with suspicion.
In business, commercial culture tends to breed acquisitiveness rather than inquisitiveness. Business often demands group cohesion instead of independent thought. Hofstadter points this out using a number of examples. A Harvard Business School Dean said, "we don't want our students to pay any attention to anything that might raise questions about management or business policy in their minds." A famous chemical company's training film spouts, "no geniuses here; just a bunch of average Americans working together." The general point is that business is indifferent to knowledge on a broad scale; only the money-making faculty needs to be cultivated to succeed.
Turning to education, Hofstadter points out that broad public education in the US was started not for developing the mind or the pride of learning for its own sake, but for its supposed political and economic benefits. Children were viewed not minds to be developed, but as citizens to be trained for a stable democracy. He goes on to outlines the debates within the community of educators about what should be taught, especially in previous eras when most people did not go to college. Hofstader also cites studies that show that even if students study "superfluous" intellectual subjects with no practical application, there ARE practical benefits; namely, learning any subject in depth teaches one how to learn something new.
Overall, this was a good analysis; the writing is very readable but not sprightly, and while some chapters are slightly slow going, others are fascinating. Overall, though, I thought Hofstadter's analysis has stood the test of time well, and it's easy to see how this book, over 40 years old, could be applied to analyze the world today. So if you're interested in a cogent analysis of anti-intellectualism, I'd recommend this book.
If Only the author were still alive! January 22, 2005
7 out of 14 found this review helpful
This book was very insightful, and it leaves me to wonder what kind of updated version Mr. Hofstadter might right if he could witness America now. I actually don't think he would be surprised.
More Relevant Now Than Ever November 7, 2004
19 out of 25 found this review helpful
Hofstadter's book surveys American history regarding a rather pernicious tendency--specifically, that especially in turbulent times, an anti-intellectual consensus has carried the day in this country. Do I need to connect the dots? This book is more relevant today than when it was first published; the newest chapter continues to be written thanks to our incumbent's "mandate" (which for him means receiving the majority vote this time) on 11/2/04.
Deserves a read . . . August 30, 2004
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
The major problem with this book is that Hofstadter fails to be always consistent in his analyses of 'intellectuals' with respect what he had defined as 'intellect' -- "the critical, creative, and contemplative side of mind" (p. 25). And the reader wonders sometime whether what he characterizes as 'anti-intellectualism' is really directed at intellectuals.
The book also suffers from the inevitable deficits that result from an attempt to chart a linear course in the historical development of American anti-intellectualism, which Hosftader argues has its roots in American evangelism.
For all that, however, "Anti-intellectualism in American Life" is an insightful book that draws together several seemingly disparate historical strands. Anyone who has wondered about the curious choices of politicians in whom Americans place in their trusts today will find some answers in this book.
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