Public Intellectuals Book

I am one of those people who, though with some training in economics/statistics, balk at the thought that economic/ statistical analyses should be applied to everything. So despite my profound respect for Posner (I think he has, perhaps, the most profoundly all encompassing intellect I've ever encountered- his oeuvre moves from law to analytical philosophy to economics, to literary criticism and to all other sorts of disciplines without missing a beat), I was already somewhat prejudiced coming into this, since he basically seeks to use economics to study public intellectuals.

Nevertheless, what I found upon reading was very fair criticism in all its (unsurprising) erudition. The fact is, as Posner points out, that most of our public intellectuals are simply unqualified to speak on what they speak on - and so they do a shoddy job of it. Martha Nussbaum's insistence on locating her public intellectual work within the illustrious list of the philosophers of antiquity does not hide the fact that philosophy does not really have much to tell us about the practicable actions and practical results of the things Nussbaum involves herself in. An abstract theory of capabilities (inspired by Aristotelian ideas about eudaimonia) does not give us much concrete understanding of the interventions and practical considerations necessary for understanding long- held cultural practices; does not tell us what opportunities should be provided to what women in what ways in which third world countries so as to ensure their "flourishing". At best, such a theory is simply an expression of chauvinism: this is what we do where I'm from, we like it there, thus it should be done everywhere. Neither does a (mis)reading of The Symposium and The Phaedrus tell us much about the current plight of homosexuals.

Despite all his erudition and his talents as a writer, Richard Rorty's theorizing, his antiquated calls for a return to the union politics of his childhood as a way of "achieving our country", cannot speak for nor offer much to the political moment as it is right now. Nor can such public intellectuals coming from within other fields, like Allan Bloom in the classics, or Robert Bork in law, etc., offer us much meaningful guidance.