''Anti-intellectualism in American Life'' is a book by

Richard Hofstadter Richard Hofstadter (August 6, 1916October 24, 1970) was an American historian and public intellectual of the mid-20th century. Hofstadter was the DeWitt Clinton Professor of American History at Columbia University. Rejecting his earlier historic ...

published in 1963 that won the

1964 Pulitzer Prize The following are the Pulitzer Prizes for 1964. Journalism awards *Public Service: **The '' St. Petersburg Times'', for its aggressive investigation of the Florida Turnpike Authority which disclosed widespread illegal acts and resulted in a majo ...

for General Non-Fiction.

Summary

In this book, Hofstadter set out to trace the social movements that altered the role of intellect in

American society The society of the United States is based on Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country with its own unique social and cultural characteristics such as dialect, music, arts, social habits, ...

. In so doing, he explored questions regarding the purpose of education and whether the democratization of education altered that purpose and reshaped its form.

Analysis

In considering the historic tension between access to education and excellence in education, Hofstadter argued that both

anti-intellectualism Anti-intellectualism is hostility to and mistrust of intellect, intellectuals, and intellectualism, commonly expressed as deprecation of education and philosophy and the dismissal of art, literature, and science as impractical, politically ...

and

utilitarianism In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different chara ...

were consequences, in part, of the

democratization of knowledge The democratization of knowledge is the acquisition and spread of knowledge amongst a wider part of the population, not just privileged elites such as clergy and academics. Libraries, in particular public libraries, and modern digital technolog ...

. Moreover, he saw these themes as historically embedded in America's national fabric, resulting from its

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

European and

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physica ...

. He contended that evangelical American Protestantism's anti-intellectual tradition valued the spirit over intellectual rigor.

Definition

Hofstadter described anti-intellectualism as “resentment of the life of the mind, and those who are considered to represent it; and a disposition to constantly minimize the value of that life.” Also, he described the term as a view that "intellectuals...are pretentious, conceited... and snobbish; and very likely immoral, dangerous, and subversive ... The plain sense of the common man is an altogether adequate substitute for, if not actually much superior to, formal knowledge and expertise."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Anti-Intellectualism In American Life 1963 non-fiction books History books about the United States Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction-winning works Sociology books Anti-intellectualism Alfred A. Knopf books