Intellectuals

Dr Santosh Kumar Mohapatra

( Collected from various sources as one of my colleagues wanted information about defination of intellectual)

An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for its normative problems.

In the study of the human mind, intellect is the ability of the human mind to reach correct conclusions about what is true and what is false in reality; and includes capacities such as reasoning, conceiving, judging, and relating.

Intellectual is often used to describe intensive reasoning and deep thinking, particularly in relation to subjects that tend to spark deep discussion,. An intellectual is also a noun for a cerebral or brainy person who engages in deep thinking,

An intellectual is a person endowed with intellect; having the power of understanding; having capacity for the higher forms of knowledge or thought; characterized by intelligence .

For those who consider themselves intellectuals, an interesting conversation means, of course, taking up certain subjects and discussing them in depth — analytically, critically, and philosophically — or else concentrating on elevated subjects, like ideas, thoughts, and theories as opposed to practical matters.

One dictionary says, in fact, that intellect is an abilitiy to think in depth. Another says that it is the faculty of the mind to know and reason. Others claim that the intellectual is a person possessing superior powers of intellect. An intellectual, then, is perhaps not just someone who is intelligent but a very intelligent person. That may be why intellectuals often look down on non-intellectuals.

Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or as a mediator, the intellectual participates in politics, either to defend a concrete proposition or to denounce an injustice, usually by either rejecting, producing or extending an ideology, and by defending a system of value.

Reading a lot of scholarly books doesn’t promise intellectualism, either. Being an academic guarantees neither an intelligent person nor an intellectual one. There are failed academics, of course, who are neither intelligent nor intellectual.

Intellectual is an individual who is deeply involved in abstract erudite ideas and theories. An individual whose profession solely involves the dissemination and/or production of ideas, as opposed to producing products (e.g. a steel worker) or services (e.g. an electrician). For example,lawyers, accountants, professors, politicians, entertainers, and scientists.

Third, “cultural intellectuals” are those of notable expertise in culture and the arts, expertise which allows them some cultural authority, which they then use to speak in public on other matters.