Intellectuals, Ideology and Politics: A Critical Review of the Intellectuals' Role in Society

Abstract

Evaluating the intellectual streams concerning politics, we can see the ideological categorizations that have affected politics. How intellectual groups can be categorized in terms of politics - intellect relation? And to what extent their role has been negative or defendable? The twentieth century has witnessed three types of intellectual; dogmatic, nihilist, and ‘universal explorer'. Since the intellectual has been constantly striving to provide the utopia and its realization, from Plato to Rousseau and Marx, we can imagine that the least mistake in theoretical calculations could have left the intellectual to the abyss of obscurantism and dark-mindedness. As the century witnessed the proximity and surrender of some intellectuals to oppressive, totalitarian ideologies, some analysts refer to the ideological trap of intellectuals as the ‘Syracuse Charm'; a situation in which reckless concern of intellectuals without calculating the practical connotations, leads them to the trap of politics and the temptation of ideologies.