Intellectuals and Society by {author}: summary and why it matters

What it argues

Sowell defines intellectuals as people whose occupations deal primarily with ideas, such as writers, academics and commentators, as distinct from those who apply ideas, such as engineers or physicians. The test of an engineer's idea is whether the bridge stands; the test of an intellectual's idea is whether other intellectuals approve.

From this he argues that intellectuals face weak feedback, since they are judged by their peers and not by results, and that they are inclined to support policies that increase the role of people like themselves in making decisions for others. He reviews episodes in which prominent intellectuals backed mistaken causes, from appeasement and the Soviet experiment to expansive social programs and the idea of a war on poverty, with little cost to their reputations.

He also discusses the intellectuals' views on income, on race and on war, and the distortions of the media.

Why it matters

It is a long and combative restatement of Sowell's skepticism about expertise. Readers should weigh it with the recognition that intellectuals also include conservatives and that some of his generalizations may be too broad.

About the author

The 2009 book was followed by a revised and enlarged edition in 2010. In it, Sowell drew on his earlier writing on intellectuals in the book The Vision of the Anointed and his history of ideas. Several chapters are devoted to the mass media and to the courts. Sowell was awarded the National Humanities Medal in 2002.

Who should read it

Readers who distrust expert consensus, and those who want to test that instinct.