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Civility and subversion in cynical times

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb-1998-11-12-Cambridge University Press eBooks
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We see, then, intellectuals contributing to democratic society. They are people concerned about gender injustice and the problems of race, with the importance of cultural freedom and the continuities of tradition, people who defend Western civilization and people who radically question this civilization. They are distinguished by the abnormal attention they pay to their critical faculties. They use their specialized skills and knowledge to address and constitute public life. They contribute to society's capacity to deliberate about its problems. Some address themselves to elites, some to broader publics. They do so by both cultivating civil society and subverting the constraints of common sense. They promote a civil consensus, and they subvert the limitations of conventional wisdom. They are talk provokers.

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We see, then, intellectuals contributing to democratic society. They are people concerned about gender injustice and the problems of race, with the importance of cultural freedom and the continuities of tradition, people who defend Western civilization and people who radically question this civilization. They are distinguished by the abnormal attention they pay to their critical faculties. They use their specialized skills and knowledge to address and constitute public life. They contribute to society's capacity to deliberate about its problems. Some address themselves to elites, some to broader publics. They do so by both cultivating civil society and subverting the constraints of common sense. They promote a civil consensus, and they subvert the limitations of conventional wisdom. They are talk provokers.

Keywords

CivilitySubversionAestheticsSociologyPolitical sciencePhilosophyLawPolitics

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