I have in the past
dealt extensively with the subject of the intellectual in my discussion of the
issue of the intellectual and revolution. This forced me to return to
prevailing conceptions about the intellectual, particularly how intellectuals
differ from experts and the educated. This is consistent with the positive
conception of the intellectual in the French tradition since Emile Zola’s J’accuse.
It deals with the intellectual as an authority of conscience who does not
derive legitimacy from social status based only on academic, literary, or other
achievements, but also from the adoption of a critical stance towards the
practices of the authorities or from prevailing preconceived ideas on the
global level. In this way, the concept of the intellectual is necessarily
immanent with the normative position in the public sphere.