Anti-intellectualism

Anti-intellectualism is the opposition to intellectualism, intellectuals and the views and methods of intellectuals. It is possible to be consciously anti-intellectual, but more often than not, anti-intellectualism is a label or sub-conscious position. Often fundamentalist religious movements or denominations are described as anti-intellectual, and while they do not tend to be opposed to intellectuals per se, they are seen as discouraging critical or independent thought. There is also a well-known strain of anti-intellectualism among far left movements, which led for example to the Killing Fields—the systematic slaughter of intellectuals—in Pol Pot's Cambodia.

Many modern conservative movements in the United States and elsewhere are often seen as anti-intellectual—blaming academics and intellectuals for moral decay by promoting unorthodox ideas and morals (the Princeton ethicist Peter Singer is often accused thusly), or accusing intellectuals of wasting time and resources on abstract and irrelevant thought when they should be spending their time on more useful pursuits. Typical of this attitude may be the former British education secretary, Charles Clarke, who thought that education for its own sake was "a bit dodgy" because it lacked vocational utility—students "need a relationship with the workplace".

Although anti-intellectualism is often accompanied by anti-rationalism, those discussing the former usually distinguish it from the latter. Such was the case with Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, who omitted from this classic text on the topic discussion of intellectual self-critique or anti-rationalist ideas from within the academy.

Being seen as "too intellectual" has been thought a political disadvantage in American politics for some time, and has been given as a reason for Al Gore's failure in the 2000 presidential election, Kerry's failure in 2004 and some commentators that the same may be true for Barack Obama in the forthcoming presidential elections. Similarly, George W. Bush's populist appeal, in spite of his education at Yale and Harvard, has been considered my some commentators an appeal to voter's "resentment of brains." Before this, the presidential campaign by Adlai Stevenson and his 1952 defeat by Dwight D. Eisenhower is seen as a prime example of the political power of anti-intellectualism, and as the source of the term egghead (referring to Stevenson's bald head).

The perception of intellectuals that anti-intellectuals have is that they are out-of-touch with common morality, elitist, immoral, often unorthodox in their religious beliefs, and sometimes sexually unorthodox - gay, bisexual, polygamous or even asexual. We can see a lot of this in the reaction to Bertrand Russell's proposed appointment at City College in New York City, where religious activists blocked Russell's employment at City College because of his liberal morals regarding sex and marriage, his pacifist opposition to the first and second World Wars and his atheism.

The causes of anti-intellectualism are varied but include a belief in some forms of pragmatism, whereby the intellectual is seen as irrelevant, since truth can be determined more through doing than thinking abstractly. Others see intellectuals as the embodiment of elitism, or as being opposed to the interests of the common people. The combination of philistinism, populism and belief in an elitist conspiracy are often used by politicians and media commentators in support of populist policies.