The Modern Role of the Public Intellectual

What is a public intellectual? What are the qualifications of that title? Looking to popular belief among academia, it seems as though the public intellectual is some exclusive club in which entry is only gained through years of higher study, a willingness to criticize and the ability to do that in the public sphere. A public intellectual in his own right, Steve Mack’s essay discusses critically the decline of this title as well as an attempt at a crisper definition:

“And if intellectuals are in a better position to perform that function it’s not because they are uniquely blessed with wisdom—and it’s certainly not because they are uniquely equipped to wield social or political power. It is only because learning the processes of criticism and practicing them with some regularity are requisites for intellectual employment. It’s what we do at our day jobs.”

To further expand on our conception of this definition, I examine the body of philosophical work of bioethicist Peter Singer, my personal favorite public figure who holds our elusive title. He is number 33 on Foreign Policy and Britain’s Prospect magazine’s Top 100 Public Intellectuals. His Wikipedia page states: “He is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University, and laureate professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CAPPE, University of Melbourne. He specializes in applied ehtics, approaching ethical issues from a secular preference utilitarian perspective.”

I was first introduced to the ideals and ethics of Dr. Singer when I was studying abroad in the Netherlands last semester. I wrote a paper for a social policy class about the Groningen Protocol, a type of official document in Holland that allows for the euthanasia of new born infants if they meet curtain criteria of illness or disability. The ideas behind this official document are both interesting and extremely controversial, especially in the United States, of course. Peter Singer, known for his ethics that push the American publics’ moral foundations to the brink, wrote an opinion piece in the LA Times about why and how he agrees with what the doctors are doing in Groningen.

In a documentary made about the Princeton professor called “Singer: A Dangerous Mind”, he is called “the most influential and controversial philosopher of our time.” Yet many protest his ideas outside of the pearly gates of Princeton. Here, his controversial mantras and publications forced citizens to become civically engaged through their afternoon art projects—decorative signs protesting Singer and his, what some consider morally-lacking, works. This is a very interesting dynamic of the public intellectual: someone whose ideas are a little bit too unique for the American masses to willingly accept that they force a discussion about the ideals of that intellectual.

So what is a public intellectual…someone who spoon feeds us intellectual material or someone who challenges us? Us, as in the American public or just the people who care enough to read? Peter Singer challenges the public, he challenges the moral fiber of American society…yet he is still successful, still intellectual—a public intellectual.

For more information about Singer and to read some of his essays, visit the Project Syndicate.