Kurzbeschreibung:

The influence of intellectuals is not only greater than in previous eras but also takes a very different form from that envisioned by those like Machiavelli and others who have wanted to directly influence rulers. It has not been by shaping the opinions or directing the actions of the holders of power that modern intellectuals have most influenced the course of events, but by shaping public opinion in ways that affect the actions of power holders in dematic societies, whether or not those power holders accept the general vision or the particular policies favored by intellectuals. Even government leaders with disdain or contempt for intellectuals have had to bend to the climate of opinion shaped by those intellectuals.
Intellectuals and Society not only examines the track record of intellectuals in the things they have advocated but also analyzes the incentives and constraints under which their views and visions have emerged. One of the most surprising aspects of this study is how often intellectuals have been proved not only wrong, but grossly and disastrously wrong in their prescriptions for the ills of society and how little their views have changed in response to empirical evidence of the disasters entailed by those views.

Review
National Review Online
"Sowell takes aim at the class of people who influence our public debate, institutions, and policy. Few of Sowell s targets are left standing at the end, and those who are stagger back to their corner, bloody and bruised.

Washington Times
"Mr. Sowell builds a devastating case against the leftist antiwar political and intellectual establishment."

About the Author
THOMAS SOWELL has taught economics at Cornell, UCLA, Amherst and other academic institutions. He is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has been published in both academic journals in such popular media as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Fortune and writes a syndicated column that appears in newspapers across the country.