At a time of much unease in academia and among the general public about the relation of intellect to public life, Thomas Bender explores both the 19th-century origins and the 20th-century configurations of academic intellect in the United States. "Bender's positive, generous civil voice injects a soothing dose of optimism into current academic debates . . . ".--AMERICAN QUARTERLY.

A philosophical exploration of what capitalistic societies truly mean for the individual. A short vade mecum for unrepentant materialism, The Idea of World collects three essays by Italian philosopher Paulo Virno that are intricately wrapped around one another. The first essay, "Mundanity," tries to clarify what the term "world", as referred to the perceptual and historical context of our existence, means--both with and against Kant and Wittgenstein. How should we understand expressions such as "worldly people," "the course of the world," or "getting by in this world"? The second, "Virtuosity and Revolution," is a minor political treatise. Virno puts forward a set of concepts capable of confronting the magnetic storm that has knocked out the compasses that every reflection on the public sphere has relied on since the seventeenth century. The third, "The Use of Life", is the shorthand delineation of a research program on the notion of use. What exactly are we doing when we use a hammer, a time span, or an ironic sentence? And, above all, what does the use of the self--of one's own life, which lies at the basis of all uses--amount to in human existence? Presenting his ideas in three distinct vignettes, Virno examines how philosophy of language, anthropology, and political theory are inextricably linked.

New York Intellect is Thomas Bender's remarkable look at the connections between the life of a city and the life of the mind. New York has never been comfortable or convenient as a milieu for art and intellect, Bender notes. Yet New Yorkers have always struggled to create institutions and styles of thought and writing that reflect the special character of the city, its boundless energies and deep divisions.

As the last presumptive founder of American sociology, Edward Alsworth Ross (1866û1951) was the first to secure its place in public discourse. Originally an economist who strongly criticized monopolies, Ross sought answers to the larger social issues of his day. His theory of social control helped to unify sociology into an independent discipline and elevate social research into an academic necessity. He implored sociologists to explain those social forces that unified people into sustainable groups. This first full analysis of Ross's intellectual legacy uses new sources to explore more broadly the scope of his influence.Throughout his career, Ross remained a controversial figure. Strong critiques of monopolies and immigration led to his dismissal from Stanford in 1900 in a landmark academic freedom case. Never satisfied with qualitative research, Ross traveled the world in search of social changes which he reported back to the American public. A 1910 trip to China yielded profound conclusions on the American economy and on the status of women. As one of the first observers of revolutionary Russia, Ross emerged at once critical of socialism and confident in the American system. Moreover, his articles reached a wide audience to demonstrate the usefulness and scope of American sociology. As Ross gained public favor, however, his academic reputation waned. By the 1920s he was left in the wake of quantitative scholarship. His concept of social control continued to engage academic theorists while new applications emerged in industrial management. After his death, scholars have debated new meanings of social control even as the disciplines of history and sociology have fragmented.In offering this examination of Ross's thought, McMahon draws on new primary materials, including interviews, to recreate the controversies that surrounded his career. The depths of his pursuits have never been so fully explored, and this new look at Ross places him among the giants of American intellectual life. Social Control and Public Intellect will be of interest to sociologists, historians, and American studies specialists.

Winner of the 1964 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction Anti-Intellectualism in American Life is a book which throws light on many features of the American character. Its concern is not merely to portray the scorners of intellect in American life, but to say something about what the intellectual is, and can be, as a force in a democratic society. "As Mr. Hofstadter unfolds the fascinating story, it is no crude battle of eggheads and fatheads. It is a rich, complex, shifting picture of the life of the mind in a society dominated by the ideal of practical success." —Robert Peel in the Christian Science Monitor

In this international bestseller, originally published in 1959, Jacques Barzun, acclaimed author of From Dawn to Decadence, takes on the whole intellectual -- or pseudo-intellectual -- world, attacking it for its betrayal of Intellect. "Intellect is despised and neglected," Barzun says, "yet intellectuals are well paid and riding high." He details this great betrayal in such areas as public administrations, communications, conversation and home life, education, business, and scholarship. In this edition's new Preface, Jacques Barzun discussess the intense -- and controversial -- reaction the world had to The House of Intellect.

Annotation Weems (English composition, Cleveland State U) argues that teaching students to think by integrating aesthetic appreciation, oral and written expression, and performance into the curriculum should be the primary goal of education. She presents her own poems and two plays as "exemplars of an astute, critical imagination-intellect" and urges that they be used in classrooms across the curriculum to explore issue of identity, racism, and sexism. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)