Introduction
1 Manning the Barricades of Civilization
2 A Candidate of Intelligence
3 The Moralist and the Mandarin
4 Critic, Counselor, Critic
5 The Intellectual against Intellectuals
6 Critical Organic Catalyst, Prophetic Pragmatist, and Public Intellectual
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Cornel West, Harvard University
"A brilliant and wise book. . . [Brown's] treatment of my calling and work is the best I know of. . . Magisterial."
Daniel Wickberg, University of Texas, Dallas
“This book will change the terms in which historians have thought about the meaning of intellectual life in the second half of the twentieth century. . . . Hope and Scorn gives us a perspective on intellectuals and democratic values that has been sorely lacking. It is bracing to have a thoughtful and careful analysis of the recent history of the meaning of intellectual authority for the dream of a democratic society.”
Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, author of The Ideas That Made America
“Brown’s superb study offers illuminating and challenging new insights on an ever-present tension in American thought and politics: the role of the professional intellectual in American political life. Deeply researched and beautifully crafted, Hope and Scorn explores the diverse and contested roles intellectuals played in American political commentary and participation, while also shedding light on their internal struggles as they navigated the inherent values of the life of the mind and the obligations of democratic commitment. Hope and Scorn will quickly establish Brown as an exciting new voice in American intellectual and political history.”
Neil McLaughlin, McMaster University
“Donald Trump has thrust the important intellectual history that Hope and Scorn deals with into the very center of American politics and culture. Brown offers a thoughtful and engaging critical account of possible inspirations for overcoming the hostility to eggheads and experts that causes so much cultural turmoil and damage today. Hope and Scorn demands your attention. It is essential reading for those thinking about how intellectuals can contribute to a democracy under siege.”
Dorothy Ross, Johns Hopkins University
“In vivid and astute analyses of how particular influential intellectuals from the 1950s to the end of the century grappled with their tortured roles as politically concerned intellectuals, Brown proves how important the intellectual’s role qua intellectual became during this half century. Hope and Scorn adds an important dimension to our understanding of the intense intellectual and political conflicts of the period.”
Kirkus Reviews
"Focusing on major American public thinkers and writers of the half-century after 1945, this searching book lucidly explores the 'tension between intellectuals’ special claims to authority and democratic principles.' . . . This knowledgeable historical study adds significantly to an already large library of books about American thought in the second half of the 20th century. An impressively authoritative and readable first book by a promising historian."
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