George Walford: Intellectuals

“Intellectuals” carries several meanings, one of them including most of the professionals. Since these tend to guide their working behaviour by the accepted rules and principles of their profession this usage clashes with the meaning given to the term in s.i., where it indicates those who tend to rely, in matters they consider important, on their own critical thinking. J. F. Watkins goes some way towards solving the difficulty when he speaks of “medicine and law, both non-intellectual subjects learned entirely by rote.” (TLS 20 April)

from Ideological Commentary 46, July 1990.