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Derived from the Latin verb intellego :
1) perceive, perceive, notice, notice
2) to know, to know
3) think
4) to know a lot, to understanddirect latin word intelligence includes a number of psychological concepts:
1) understanding, reason, cognitive power, ability to perceive
2) concept, representation, idea
3) perception, sensory knowledge
4) skill, artAs can be seen from the above, the original meaning of the concept is functional. It is about the activity of consciousness.
Used in this sense, it is found even in the 19th century, in a letter from N.P. Ogarev to Granovsky in 1850:
“Some subject with gigantic intelligence…”
In the same sense, one can read about the use of the word in Masonic circles. In the book “The Problem of Authorship and the Theory of Styles”, V. V. Vinogradov notes that the word intelligentsia is one of the words used in the language of Masonic literature in the second half of the 18th century:
... the word intelligentsia is often found in the handwritten heritage of the Mason Schwartz. It denotes here the highest state of man as an intelligent being, free from any gross, bodily matter, immortal and imperceptibly able to influence and act on all things. Later, A. Galich used this word in a general sense - "reasonableness, higher consciousness" in his idealistic philosophical concept. The word intelligentsia in this sense was used by VF Odoevsky.
Candidate of Historical Sciences T. V. Kiselnikova notes that she shares the following view of E. Elbakyan about the intelligentsia, set out in her article “Between the hammer and the anvil (Russian intelligentsia in the past century)”:
“Is the intelligentsia a separate, independent social group, or does each social group have its own special category of intelligentsia? It is not easy to answer this question, because the modern historical process gives rise to a variety of forms of various categories of intelligentsia.
The discussion of this problem continues and is inextricably linked with the concepts: society, social group, culture.
In Russia
In Russian pre-revolutionary culture, in the interpretation of the concept of "intelligentsia", the criterion of engaging in mental labor receded into the background. The main features of the Russian intellectual were the features of social messianism: concern for the fate of their fatherland (civil responsibility); the desire for social criticism, to fight against what hinders national development (the role of the bearer of public conscience); the ability to morally empathize with the “humiliated and offended” (a sense of moral belonging). At the same time, the intelligentsia began to be defined primarily through the opposition of the official state power - the concepts of "educated class" and "intelligentsia" were partially divorced - not any educated person could be classified as an intelligentsia, but only one who criticized the "backward" government. The Russian intelligentsia, understood as a set of mental laborers opposed to the authorities, turned out to be a rather isolated social group in pre-revolutionary Russia. The intellectuals were viewed with suspicion not only by the official authorities, but also by the “common people”, who did not distinguish the intellectuals from the “gentlemen”. The contrast between the claim to be messianic and isolation from the people led to the cultivation among Russian intellectuals of constant repentance and self-flagellation.
A special topic of discussion at the beginning of the 20th century was the place of the intelligentsia in the social structure of society. Some insisted on non-class approach: the intelligentsia did not represent any special social group and did not belong to any class; being the elite of society, it rises above class interests and expresses universal ideals. Others viewed the intelligentsia in terms of class approach, but disagreed on the question of which class / classes it belongs to. Some believed that the intelligentsia included people from different classes, but at the same time they did not constitute a single social group, and we should not talk about the intelligentsia in general, but about different types of intelligentsia (for example, by type of intellectual activity and field of occupation: creative, engineering and technical, university, academic (scientific), pedagogical, etc., as well as bourgeois, proletarian, peasant, and even lumpen intelligentsia). Others attributed the intelligentsia to some well-defined class. The most common options were the assertions that the intelligentsia is part of the bourgeois class or the proletarian class. Finally, still others singled out the intelligentsia as a separate class.
Known estimates, formulations and explanations
The word intelligent and Ushakov, and the academic dictionary define: "peculiar to an intellectual" with a negative connotation: "about the properties of the old, bourgeois intelligentsia" with its "lack of will, hesitation, doubts." Both Ushakov and the academic dictionary define the word intelligent: “inherent in an intellectual, intelligentsia” with a positive connotation: “educated, cultured”. “Cultural”, in turn, here clearly means not only the bearer of “enlightenment, education, erudition” (the definition of the word culture in the academic dictionary), but also “possessing certain skills of behavior in society, educated” (one of the definitions of the word cultural in that same dictionary). The antithesis to the word intelligent in the modern linguistic consciousness will be not so much an ignoramus as an ignoramus (and by the way, an intelligent is not a tradesman, but a boor). Each of us feels the difference, for example, between "intelligent appearance", "intelligent behavior" and "intelligent appearance", "intelligent behavior". With the second adjective, there is, as it were, a suspicion that, in fact, this appearance and this behavior are sham, and with the first adjective, they are genuine. I remember a typical case. About ten years ago, the critic Andrey Levkin published an article in the Rodnik magazine with a title that was supposed to be defiant: "Why I'm not an intellectual." V. P. Grigoriev, a linguist, said about this: “But to write:“ Why am I not intelligent, ”he did not have the courage” ...
There is a derogatory statement by V. I. Lenin about the intelligentsia helping the bourgeoisie:
The intellectual forces of the workers and peasants are growing and strengthening in the struggle to overthrow the bourgeoisie and its accomplices, the intellectuals, lackeys of capital, who imagine themselves to be the brains of the nation. In fact, this is not the brain, but shit. We pay higher than average salaries to the "intellectual forces" who want to bring science to the people (and not to serve capital). It is a fact. We protect them. It is a fact. Tens of thousands of our officers serve the Red Army and win in spite of hundreds of traitors. It is a fact. V. I. Lenin (From a letter to Gorky on September 15, 1919) see also
Notes
Literature
- Milyukov P. N. Intelligentsia and historical tradition // Intelligentsia in Russia. - St. Petersburg, 1910.
- Davydov Yu. N. Clarification of the concept “intelligentsia” // Where is going Russia? Alternatives social development. 1: International Symposium December 17-19, 1993 / Ed. ed. T. I. Zaslavskaya, L. A. Harutyunyan. - M.: Interpraks, 1994. - C. 244-245. -
“What is an intelligent person?
This is a restless conscience...
And - compassion for the fate of the people.
But that's not all. The intelligent knows
which is not an end in itself."Vasily Shukshin.
"Friendship of Peoples", 1976'11, p. 286.P.D. Boborykin was the first to introduce the concept of "intelligentsia"
"The intellectual forces of the workers and peasants
grow and grow stronger in the struggle to overthrow
bourgeoisie and its accomplices, intellectuals,
lackeys of capital, who imagine themselves the brain of the nation.
In fact, this is not a brain, but shit ... "
IN AND. Lenin.
Letter to A.M. Gorky from 15. IX.1919 (PSS, vol. 51, p. 48)INTELLIGENTSIA. The hallmark of the intelligentsia is not all mental labor, but the most qualified types of mental labor ... Thus, the intelligentsia as a social stratum is a social group of people professionally engaged in the highest, most qualified types of mental labor.
S.N. Nadel. Modern capitalism and the middle strata. M., 1978, p. 203.
Intelligentsia (NFE, 2010)
INTELLIGENCE - the concept was introduced into scientific circulation in Russia in the 60s of the 19th century, in the 20s of the 20th century it entered the English-language dictionaries. Initially, the intelligentsia was called the educated, critically thinking part of society, whose social function was unambiguously associated with active opposition to the autocracy and protection of the interests of the people. Creativity of cultural and moral values (forms) and the priority of social ideals oriented towards universal equality and the interests of human development were recognized as a glorious feature of the consciousness of the intelligentsia.
Intelligentsia (Maslin, 2014)
INTELLIGENCE (lat. intelligens - understanding, thinking) - a layer of educated and thinking people who perform functions that require a high degree of development of intelligence and professional education. One of the first to use the word "intelligentsia" in this sense was the Russian writer P. D. Boborykin, who called it "the highest educated stratum of society" (1866). In Russian, and then in Western European thought, this word quickly replaced the concept of "nihilist", introduced by I. S. Turgenev, and the concept of "thinking proletariat" ("educated proletariat"), known from Pisarev's articles.
Intelligentsia (Berdyaev, 1937)
It is necessary to know what constitutes that peculiar phenomenon, which in Russia is called "intelligentsia". Western people would fall into error if they identified the Russian intelligentsia with what in the West they call intellectuels. Intellectuels are people of intellectual work and creativity, primarily scientists, writers, artists, professors, teachers, etc. A completely different education is represented by the Russian intelligentsia, which could include people who are not engaged in intellectual work and in general are not particularly intelligent.
Intelligentsia (Reisberg, 2012)
INTELLIGENCE (lat. intelligens - thinking, reasonable) - a layer of people who gravitate towards creative work, possessing such characteristics as spirituality, internal culture, education, manners of civilized behavior, independence of thought, humanism, high moral and ethical qualities.
Raizberg B.A. Modern socioeconomic dictionary. M., 2012, p. 193.
Intelligent (Lopukhov, 2013)
INTELLIGENT - a person professionally engaged in an intellectual type of activity, mainly complex creative work. The term was introduced in the 60s. XIX century by the writer P. Boborykin. Later, thanks to the spiritual influence of Russian writers and philosophers of the second half of the 19th century, the concept of "intellectual" expanded significantly. Despite its foreign origin, this word began to denote a specific Russian phenomenon and differ from the concept of "intellectual" adopted in the West.
Intelligentsia (Orlov, 2012)
INTELLIGENCE (lat. intelligens - understanding, thinking, reasonable) - a special social group of people professionally engaged in mental (mostly complex), creative work, which is the main source of income, as well as the development of culture and its dissemination among the population.
The term "intelligentsia" in the 1860s introduced by the writer P. D. Boborykin; moved from Russian to other languages. In the West, the term "intellectuals" is more common, and is also used as a synonym for the intelligentsia.
Intelligentsia (Podoprigora, 2013)
INTELLIGENCE [lat. intellegens - smart, understanding, knowledgeable; connoisseur, specialist] - a social stratum, which includes persons professionally engaged in mental work. The term "intelligentsia" was first introduced into use by the Russian writer P. Boborykin (in the 70s of the 19th century). Initially, the word "intelligentsia" denoted cultured, educated people with progressive views. In the future, it began to be attributed to persons of a certain nature of work, certain professions.
The intelligentsia is an estate, a certain social stratum, a social group, a special sphere of social relations. This is not only a sociological and psychological concept, but also a demographic (demographic group). There is a close relationship with ethics and aesthetics. In a certain sense, one can conditionally speak about the subculture of the intelligentsia. However, the foundation of the intelligentsia is personal.
Analyzing the concepts of "intelligentsia" and "intellectual", we turned to the scientific works presented in the book "Russian Intelligentsia" (M.: Nauka, 1999). Other sources were also used, but mainly this particular book.
The words "intelligentsia", "intellectual" and "intelligent" were introduced into literary circulation in the middle of the 19th century. These words even then received an almost modern meaning. Scientists note that the history of Russian culture is inextricably linked with the history of the Russian intelligentsia. Historically, such problems as freedom, power, knowledge, and the intellectual elite of society were associated with the intelligentsia. One of the essential distinguishing features of the intelligentsia is its social position. Since the 19th century the Russian intelligentsia definitely acts as a special social stratum or class. The difference between an intellectual and persons of other social groups is not in the choice of political beliefs and not in any particular religion or its denial. In all these areas, there is complete freedom to choose from many possibilities. But in itself, the intellectual choice and the variety of these possibilities exist thanks to the intelligentsia. The development of society is a task that only the intelligentsia can handle. Here, however, it is meant that the intelligentsia is a real social stratum, it is often called an estate, a social group; it is a social entity, a social object. However, this real layer as a whole does not manifest itself, it cannot be observed with one's own eyes, it is "invisible", while the intellectuals appear one by one (individual, personality, individuality). The situation here is complex. Maybe the concepts of "intelligentsia" and "intellectual" exist, but the corresponding realities do not exist. And vice versa. These realities exist, live and operate, but scientists cannot finally formulate the concepts. Of course, the search for truth must be continued, but we must also proceed from the fact that the intelligentsia as a social stratum and the intellectual as an individual exist in reality.
The word and the corresponding concept of "intelligentsia" at first meant "people with a mind", then "people with a conscience", then simply "very good people". Now we say this: the intelligentsia is a reasonable, educated, mentally developed part of the population, and hence the derivative words: intelligent, intelligent, etc. Accordingly, it is precisely the individual concept of "intellectual" that is said about the personal basis of the intelligentsia. Personality traits of an intellectual: a high level of education, culture, education, enlightenment, kindness, compassion, concern for people, love for the fatherland and the desire to protect it. All this is given to man "from above" - by God. Of course, a person striving to become intelligent is capable of doing a lot for this, but everyone must remember: an intellectual is not the one who behaves intelligently, all the more so demonstrates it, but the one who cannot behave otherwise, because this is his essence. An intellectual by nature has intelligence, honor, dignity, kindness, but with all this, a conscious readiness to take care not only about himself, but also about others comes to the fore. Everything corresponds to freedom and will. Are there many such people in our country? Maybe there are some in the "elite" mentioned above? In any case, there is no need to talk about mass character.
It seems that it is unacceptable to speak, and even more so to introduce various arbitrary concepts into scientific circulation: “semi-intellectual”, “average intellectual”, etc. Sometimes in the literature there are references to the "simplified" concepts of the intelligentsia and the intelligentsia, but what is meant by this is not disclosed. Some, in order to criticize such simplifications, write: just look, the term “marginal intellectual” will soon be used. If simplified concepts are used, then “simplified people” will begin to enroll in the intelligentsia, lists of those wishing to be called intellectuals will be drawn up according to one or another principle: age, nationality, etc. And the ranks will line up ... I want to be an intellectual, your mother! But in any case, this is another social stratum: officials of various levels, other "workers" and, of course, "servants of the people." Normal people are already tired of being surprised and indignant when, day after day, for many years in a row, “masters of art”, called intellectuals, appear on television screens with the same program. This, in our opinion, is a "show-intellectuals" - a chantrap. No one can drive them off the TV screens. Money!
Under the influence of "proletarian culture", the place of the destroyed and expelled "old" Russian intelligentsia was taken by the "new" Soviet intelligentsia, selected according to the class principle and social origin: only people from the workers could create a full-fledged "proletarian culture" - hence the selection principle of higher education, selection of personnel in science, art, etc. All Soviet years, as K.V. Kondakov, the intelligentsia lived not by reason, not by will, but only by seduction and dreams. “Cruel reality,” according to K.V. Kondakova, - every time she mercilessly punished the intelligentsia, threw them into the mud, to the ground, the disappointments were so strong that it seemed that they would never recover from them. But time has passed... Is it possible to recover today? We'll have to wait, time will tell." However, the time has come. Suffice it to say about the attitude towards E.T. Gaidar. They set the marginals against him and hounded him. And they hid themselves. Not ashamed?
Intelligentsia- understanding, cognitive power; "smart - knowing - thinking - understanding" - in the modern public (ordinary) representation means social layer educated people professionally engaged in complex mental (predominantly intellectual) work. We emphasize again: understanding, knowledge, cognitive power, intelligence - these are the properties that are inherent in a certain category of people, cool people (no one has yet canceled the concept of “people of our cool”, “people not of our cool”). Accordingly, the "social status of an intellectual" can be defined. It is these attributes, in fact, that are decisive in the characterization of the "circle of people", a social group called the intelligentsia, and not their position among other social classes.
I must say that the intelligentsia has many features, but even a combination of them, writes Yu.S. Stepanov, does not give a complete definition. Maybe that is why the name "intellectual" is used to call people, respectively, social strata who do not have the right to do so. Is it possible to call technocrats and officials intelligentsia, even if they have diplomas or if they write books, speak at scientific meetings? - puts the question Yu.S. Stepanov. The answer, of course, is no. It is known that at one time the authorities persecuted the intelligentsia and the officials played a leading role in this matter, they mocked the real intelligentsia, and then the same authorities and the same officials appropriated the name of the intellectual. It turns out like this: at first I hate an intellectual because of my inferiority, and then I want to become an intellectual in order to somehow compensate for my inferiority.
Enlightenment, writes M.L. Gasparov, is an absolutely necessary prerequisite for intelligence. The current more and more frequent declarations that education does not guarantee intelligence and that you can find more intelligence in simple and unlearned people than in other professors, this, continues M.L. Gasparov, only means that the concept of intelligence has moved into the realm of pure morality. With this, in our opinion, one cannot hastily agree. Here should be the following "construction" of an intellectual: morality + conscience + intellect. From the concept of intelligence it is impossible to tear off everything that is connected with the intelligentsia: upbringing, culture, education, which is “glued” with enlightenment. Moreover, it is important to note that good manners is something that is absorbed by a person from infancy, with "mother's milk", it is "fixed" deep inside a person for life. Culture, education, enlightenment are not innate, but acquired qualities that have been formed in a person in the course of his life. But most importantly, in our opinion, it is morality and conscience. The main thing in a person that stands in the first place in him is morality.. That is why it is necessary to stake on the development of such a social stratum as the intelligentsia.
Today in our country the social stratum of the intelligentsia is "thickening". First, one must take into account the entire mass of those who call themselves intellectuals (almost all of this mass is mistaken). Secondly, today, wherever you look, everyone demands to consider himself an intellectual. K.B. Sokolov writes: “When a person says “I am an intellectual”, he, in fact, asserts something like this: I am a famous person belonging to the elite of society, I think with my head, because I am smart, educated, I am a finely organized person.” How not to have fun here and remember the words from the song: “Now I consider myself a city man ...” However, the poor fellow constantly “whines”: “My little village.”
Who is an intellectual? Does the intelligentsia really exist and what is it? We have already partially answered these questions, but there is a need to continue the reasoning.
An intelligent person becomes individually. The social stratum (or class) "intelligentsia" really exists, but the "entrance" to it and the "exit" from it always remain within the limits of individual behavior. This layer consists of specific people, personalities. It seems to us that the formation of an intellectual can be compared with faith in God, a person also becomes a believer individually. There are no absolutely identical intellectuals. There are no absolutely identical believers. The believer, unlike the intellectual, decides for himself whether or not to enter the milieu of believers. The intelligentsia does not have its own "church" where they could "pray" and strengthen their estate.
The intelligentsia invented a myth about itself, writes K.B. Sokolov, kind, smart. Honest and principled. “Among all sorts of positions, ranks and states, the intelligentsia always performs the same task. She is always light, and only that which shines, or the one who shines, will perform an intelligent deed, an intelligent task. 1 Sokolov K.B. Myths about the intelligentsia and historical reality // Russian intelligentsia. History and destiny. M. 1999., S. 149-150. Using the specified scientific work of K.B. Sokolov, let us use his description and definitions.
The famous writer D. Granin continued the myth-making position, writes K.B. Sokolov. Here is what Granin points out: “Our metropolitan intelligentsia, especially provincial, generation after generation, in spite of everything, has retained the moral concepts of honor, and mercy, and a conscientious pile, and decency, and, finally, honesty. Her spiritual merits before history are indisputable... None of them has ever served as a support of power. Politics changed, rulers changed, but the intelligentsia always knew what to fight for.” Further K.B. Sokolov quotes D.S. Likhacheva, N.Ya. Eidelman, respectively, the following: "An intellectual can be recognized by the absence of aggressiveness, suspicion, an inferiority complex in him, but gentleness of behavior." And more about the intellectual: "For several generations, a type of relatively free, consciously ideological, active intellectual has developed." Already from the above definitions, writes K.B. Sokolov, it is clear that there is a typical myth, because such "angels in the flesh" never existed. And if there were such intellectuals, then in the form of singles, representing rather an exception to the general rule. One can recall how some “intellectuals” behaved when the authorities persecuted A.D. Sakharov. And how did they take part when they literally hounded E.T. Gaidar. Of course, the intelligentsia has nothing to do with it, but who are these individual intellectuals? I do not know how many academicians there are in our country, but forty of them once signed a newspaper article against Andrei Sakharov.
Now in our country, writes V.V. Kozhinov in the specified book "Russian intelligentsia", various "academies" and "academicians" divorced an unprecedented multitude. I think that Shandybin would say: "I am an academician of the Academy of the Working Class."
Intellectual- this is one who is not completely absorbed in his own well-being, but does everything for the prosperity of his society and is ready to work to the best of his ability for its good. It seems that an intellectual is, first of all, labor, noble and grateful. An intellectual is one who brings real benefit to the fatherland by his work, this is work that is really felt by people, by the people. When determining whether a person is an intellectual or not, it is important to take into account his social origin: a gentleman from a cradle is a gentleman, a gentleman from serfs is a serf. It must be said that among those who consider themselves and call themselves intellectuals, serfs are the most. And they are not embarrassed that they are serfs, just to be called an intellectual.
The concepts of "intelligentsia" and "intellectual" are very difficult to define, nevertheless, attempts are being made. However, a lot has been done in this regard.
intellectuals- these are people who are characterized by intelligence, upbringing, education; this is the most common concept. Everything else is added to this: kindness, compassion, etc. Many authors are very critical of the fact that intellectuals are people with a diploma of higher education. This is a fairly common view today. It is very convenient for counting the number of intellectuals by the presence of diplomas, but does not give anything to explain the phenomenon itself. Such a definition dissolves the intelligentsia in the mass of office workers. According to this definition, writes K.B. Sokolov, and KGB Chairman Yu.V. Andropov, and Academician A.D. Sakharov are both representatives of the "Soviet intelligentsia". According to the same definition, S.M. Mironov and Academician D.E. Ligachev are also both representatives of the “Russian intelligentsia”, or B.V. Gryzlov and the world famous scientist Professor E.T. Gaidar. This is the basis of personality.
I would like to say: if anyone wants to call himself an intellectual, to become one, then let him always remember that the most unacceptable thing for an intellectual is money and personal enrichment. Any tangible assets are incompatible with the concept of "intellectual". The intellectual has an aversion to wealth. However ... The intelligentsia (the one that already exists in our country) today strives for security, for well-being and no longer sees anything bad in a well-fed life. But here, as nowhere else, it must be borne in mind that this (strictly) is based on individual start. One intellectual, by virtue of his convictions, lives "fatly", and the other - poorly. It seems to be quite natural.
Maybe in our country the concept of an intellectual as a good person, smart, well-mannered, educated, honest, kind, attentive to people, sympathetic will be fixed? it must be a person of high morality and conscience.
Finding such people is not easy. They need to be selected, some criteria should be established.
Imagine elections for the sake of at least a little fun. Elections in our country are already ridiculous.
The choice of a good person can be made in our country only from those people that we have. From whom to choose? What we have, we have. Unfortunately, there are no others. Different categories of people may be selected: outcasts, officials, representatives of show business, football business, etc. The Sharikovs and Shandybins, "doctors of canine sciences" and "doctors of working sciences", will be among the selected ones.
Maybe nothing to stir up, all this in vain? After all, how many years we have been electing deputies, it is time to understand what elections are, how they are held. Perhaps the deputies themselves believe that by choosing them, the people are choosing the intelligentsia. Painfully often they call themselves intellectuals. They really think they are.
We still do not know exactly what morality is. We also do not know what conscience is. However, we are sure that these are lofty estimates and with their help a person can be presented quite highly.
As for the “poorly educated professors who “penetrate” into science and the intelligentsia”, about which M.L. Gasparov writes, this is a particularly “bitter” question. emphasizes M. L. Gasparov.Unfortunately, in last years such people have paved a “cunning” path into science and follow it confidently, without bumping into obstacles. They are drawn, for money, etc. a “wide high road” has been created, and therefore there is no need to “climb along rocky paths”. Everything is easy, everything is simple. And all this "shadow" falls on the true scientists, on the intelligentsia.
As is usually the case in times of drastic changes in social life, reforms and restructurings, money, blat, tricks of businessmen, deceit, cunning, toadying, the ability to get into the soul, etc. float to the surface in the field of science. Parents write dissertations for their sons and daughters, husbands write dissertations for their wives, stupid mistresses make their way into science especially dirty and brazenly. To whom only dissertations are sold. All this makes crooks first candidates of science, then doctors of science, professors. Then they “spin” among true scientists, make their way into dissertation councils, speaking at some meeting, say about themselves “we are intellectuals”, “we are scientists”, promote themselves in every possible way, write books about themselves, publish them colorfully and themselves they are distributed. Look, I'm not as dumb as you think. In fact, these are crooks, squeezed into science. They are science scammers. They are distinguished by the fact that they are very primitive. They are not ashamed. They do not know conscience. Their morality is on the "social bottom". These "marginal professors", or, in other words, "marginal professors", are the lumpen in science. It is no coincidence that in science there are clashes between true scientists and "phony professors". Not only M.L. Gasparov, Yu.S. also speaks about this. Stepanov and I.V. Kondakov in the above-mentioned book “Russian intelligentsia. History and fate. "Professor scouts," as this book notes, are people "unable to move their brains." Today, we have various ignoramuses hiding behind the words "intellectual" or "professor", which, as emphasized in the same book, are "personalities without the slightest sign of intelligence, a scammer." These are “socially harmful and dangerous” people who create a criminal business in science, “monetary-criminal science”, and each of them is a socially ugly person who has nothing to do with morality and conscience.
As an edification to others, let us notice, repent.
Who does not know such "professor scouts"? They are among us. And you don't have to go far to find the guilty ones. We create them ourselves, turn a blind eye to these "spy professors", let them into science through the "leaky sieve" created by us. And we are paying for all this. When you deal with those who "penetrate" into science, help them, do not forget: if you throw a boomerang, it will certainly return to you and will certainly knock out your teeth. Don't ignore this boomerang law.
For some reason, no one writes about intelligent women. In the literature, everything is presented in a generalized form. However, this problem cannot be ignored. There are many questions here.
Are the women ministers of our government intelligent or not? And women - deputies of the Duma? Apparently, they consider themselves intellectuals, perhaps "simplified", but still intellectuals. It seems that there are many women who belong to the class of intellectuals. These are representatives of science, culture, art, etc. Women, like men, declare themselves one by one. Here, as in other cases, the main thing is the individual basis, the personal problem.
How many people of the current generation think about what intelligence is? How does it express itself and does society need it at all? There were times when this word sounded like an insult, and it happened vice versa - this is how groups of people were called, trying to pull Russia out of the darkness of ignorance and stupidity.
Etymology of the word
"Intelligence" is a word that comes from Latin. Iintelligence- cognitive power, the ability of perception, which, in turn, comes from the Latin intellectus- understanding, thinking. Despite the Latin origin of the word, the concept of "intellectual" is considered to be primordially Russian and in the overwhelming majority of cases is used only on the territory of the former USSR and among the Russian-speaking population.
The father of the term "intelligentsia" is considered to be the Russian liberalist writer Pyotr Bobrykin (1836-1921), who repeatedly used it in his critical articles, essays and novels. Initially, this was the name of people of mental labor: writers, artists and teachers, engineers and doctors. In those days, there were very few such professions and people were grouped according to common interests.
Who is an intelligent person?
"Cultural and not swearing," many will say. Some will add: "Smart". And then they will add something about education, erudition. But are all doctors of sciences and great minds of this world intellectuals?
There are enough people in the world with a huge store of knowledge who have read thousands of books, polyglots and true masters of their craft. Does this automatically make them involved in the intelligentsia, the social stratum?
The simplest definition of intelligence
One of the greatest minds of the Silver Age gave a very short but capacious definition of the concept of intelligence: "This is the highest culture of the human spirit, aimed at preserving the dignity of one's neighbor."
Such intelligence - that daily work is constant self-improvement, the result of a huge educational process on oneself, one's personality, which first of all cultivates in a person the ability to be attentive and empathetic towards another living being. An intellectual, even if he commits a dishonorable act under the will of circumstances, will suffer greatly from this and be tormented by remorse. He will rather harm himself, but will not be stained by base things.
Human values inherent in an intellectual
According to the results of a social survey, the majority of people indicated the importance of education and good manners. But the great Faina Ranevskaya said: “It is better to be known as a good, but cursing obscenity than a well-bred bastard.” Therefore, higher education and knowledge of etiquette does not mean that you have before you an intellectual of the old school. More important are the following factors:
- Compassion for someone else's pain, no matter if it's human or animal.
- Patriotism, expressed in deeds, not shouts at rallies from the podium.
- Respect for other people's property: therefore, a true intellectual always pays his debts, but takes them extremely rarely, in the most critical cases.
- Politeness, pliability and gentleness of character are required - they are the first calling card of the intelligentsia. Tact is at the top of their relationship with people: he will never put another person in an uncomfortable position.
- The ability to forgive.
- Lack of rudeness towards anyone: even if the impudent one pushes the intellectual, he will be the first to apologize for the inconvenience caused. Just do not confuse this with cowardice: a coward is afraid, and an intellectual respects all people, whatever they may be.
- Lack of intrusiveness: out of respect for strangers, they are more often silent than frank with anyone.
- Sincerity and unwillingness to lie: again because of decency and love for other people, but more out of self-respect.
- An intellectual respects himself so much that he will not allow himself to be uneducated, unenlightened.
- Craving for beauty: a hole in the floor or a book thrown into the dirt excites their soul more than the absence of dinner.
From all this it becomes obvious that education and intelligence are not related concepts, although they are interacting. An intellectual is a rather complexly structured personality, which is why he is not loved by the lower strata of society: against the background of an esthete who feels the world subtly, they feel flawed and do not understand anything, and this manifests anger, leading to violence.
Modern intellectual
What is intelligence today? Is it even possible to be like that in the arena of total degradation and stupidity from the mass media, social networks and television shows?
All this is true, but universal human values do not change from era to era: at any time, tolerance and respect for others, compassion and the ability to put oneself in the place of another are important. Honor, inner freedom and depth of soul, together with a sharp mind and a craving for beauty, have always been and will be of paramount importance for evolution. And today's intellectuals are not much different from their brothers in the spirit of the century before last, when a person really sounded proud. They are modest, honest with themselves and others, and necessarily kind from the heart, and not for the sake of PR. On the contrary, a spiritually developed person will never boast of his deeds, achievements and actions, but at the same time he will try to do everything possible to become at least a little better, knowing that by changing himself, he changes the whole world around him for the better.
Do modern society need intellectuals?
Education and intelligence are now as important an aspect as global warming or animal cruelty. The thirst for money and universal adoration has so captured society that the modest attempts of individuals to raise the level of human awareness resemble the painful attempts of a woman in labor, who, despite all the pain, firmly believes in a successful outcome.
It is necessary to believe that intelligence is such a culture of the soul. This is not the amount of knowledge, but actions in accordance with moral principles. Perhaps then our world, mired in the mud of a distorted mind, will be saved. Humanity needs bright-hearted individuals, intellectuals of the spirit, who will promote the purity of relations without mercantile overtones, the importance of spiritual growth and the need for knowledge as an initial basis for subsequent development.
When does the formation of moral qualities take place?
In order to be, or rather, feel like an intellectual and not be burdened by this burden, you need to absorb the inclinations with your mother's milk, be brought up in an appropriate environment and environment, then high moral behavior will be like a part of the being, like a hand or an eye.
It is for this reason that it is important not only to educate the child in the right direction, but also to set a good example by rational actions, correct actions, and not just words.
The content of the article
INTELLIGENTSIA(intelligentia). There are two different approaches to the definition of intelligentsia. Sociologists under the intelligentsia understand the social a group of people professionally engaged in mental work, development and dissemination of culture, usually with higher education. But there is another approach, the most popular in Russian social philosophy, according to which those who can be considered moral standard of society. The second interpretation is narrower than the first.
The concept comes from the word of Latin origin intelligens, which means "understanding, thinking, reasonable." As is commonly believed, the word "intelligentsia" was introduced by the ancient Roman thinker Cicero.
Intelligentsia and intellectuals in foreign countries.
In modern developed countries, the concept of "intelligentsia" is used quite rarely. In the West, the term “intellectuals” is more popular, which refers to people professionally engaged in intellectual (mental) activities, without, as a rule, claiming to be the bearers of “higher ideals”. The basis for the allocation of such a group is the division of labor between workers of mental and physical labor.
People professionally engaged in intellectual activities (teachers, artists, doctors, etc.) already existed in antiquity and in the Middle Ages. But they became a large social group only in the era of modern times, when the number of people engaged in mental work increased sharply. Only since that time can we speak of a socio-cultural community whose representatives, through their professional intellectual activities (science, education, art, law, etc.), generate, reproduce and develop cultural values, contributing to the enlightenment and progress of society.
Since creative activity necessarily presupposes a critical attitude to the prevailing opinions, the persons of intellectual labor always act as carriers of the "critical potential". It was the intellectuals who created new ideological doctrines (republicanism, nationalism, socialism) and promoted them, thereby ensuring the constant renewal of the system of social values.
Since the value of knowledge and creative thinking rises sharply in the era of scientific and technological revolution, in modern world the number of mental workers and their importance in the life of society is also growing. In a post-industrial society, intellectuals will become, according to some sociologists, "the new ruling class."
In countries that are lagging behind in their development, the social group of intellectual workers acquires special features. Understanding the backwardness of their country better than others, intellectuals become the main preachers of the values of modernization. As a result, they develop a sense of their own exclusivity, a claim to "higher knowledge", which everyone else is deprived of. Such messianic traits are characteristic of the intellectuals of all countries of catching-up development, but they have received the strongest development in Russia. It is this special kind of intellectuals that is called the intelligentsia.
Russian intelligentsia.
The "father" of the Russian intelligentsia can be considered Peter I, who created the conditions for the penetration of the ideas of Western enlightenment into Russia. Initially, the production of spiritual values was mainly carried out by people from the nobility. "The first typically Russian intellectuals" D.S. Likhachev calls free-thinking nobles of the late 18th century, such as Radishchev and Novikov. In the 19th century, the bulk of this social group began to be made up of people from non-noble strata of society (“raznochintsy”).
The mass use of the concept of "intelligentsia" in Russian culture began in the 1860s, when the journalist P.D. Boborykin began to use it in the mass press. Boborykin himself announced that he had borrowed the term from German culture, where it was used to designate the stratum of society whose representatives are engaged in intellectual activity. Declaring himself the "godfather" of the new concept, Boborykin insisted on the special meaning he attached to this term: he defined the intelligentsia as persons of "high mental and ethical culture", and not as "mental workers". In his opinion, the intelligentsia in Russia is a purely Russian moral and ethical phenomenon. The intelligentsia in this sense includes people of different professional groups, belonging to different political movements, but having a common spiritual and moral basis. It was with this special meaning that the word "intelligentsia" then returned back to the West, where it began to be considered specifically Russian (intelligentsia).
In Russian pre-revolutionary culture, in the interpretation of the concept of "intelligentsia", the criterion of engaging in mental labor receded into the background. The main features of the Russian intellectual were the features of social messianism: preoccupation with the fate of his fatherland (civil responsibility); the desire for social criticism, to fight against what hinders national development (the role of the bearer of public conscience); the ability to morally empathize with the “humiliated and offended” (a sense of moral belonging). Thanks to a group of Russian philosophers of the "Silver Age", the authors of the sensational collection Milestones. Collection of articles about the Russian intelligentsia(1909), the intelligentsia began to be defined primarily through opposition to the official government. At the same time, the concepts of “educated class” and “intelligentsia” were partially divorced - not any educated person could be classified as an intelligentsia, but only one who criticized the “backward” government. A critical attitude towards the tsarist government predetermined the sympathy of the Russian intelligentsia for liberal and socialist ideas.
The Russian intelligentsia, understood as a set of mental laborers opposed to the authorities, turned out to be a rather isolated social group in pre-revolutionary Russia. The intellectuals were viewed with suspicion not only by the official authorities, but also by the “common people”, who did not distinguish the intellectuals from the “gentlemen”. The contrast between the claim to be messianic and isolation from the people led to the cultivation among Russian intellectuals of constant repentance and self-flagellation.
A special topic of discussion at the beginning of the 20th century was the place of the intelligentsia in the social structure of society. Some insisted on a non-class approach: the intelligentsia did not represent any special social group and did not belong to any class; being the elite of society, it rises above class interests and expresses universal ideals (N.A. Berdyaev, M.I. Tugan-Baranovsky, R.V. Ivanov-Razumnik). Others (N.I. Bukharin, A.S. Izgoev and others) considered the intelligentsia within the framework of the class approach, but disagreed on the question of which class / classes it should be assigned to. Some believed that the intelligentsia included people from different classes, but at the same time they did not constitute a single social group, and we should not talk about the intelligentsia in general, but about different types of intelligentsia (for example, bourgeois, proletarian, peasant). Others attributed the intelligentsia to some well-defined class. The most common options were the assertions that the intelligentsia is part of the bourgeois class or the proletarian class. Finally, still others singled out the intelligentsia as a separate class.
Beginning in the 1920s, the composition of the Russian intelligentsia began to change dramatically. The core of this social group became young workers and peasants who gained access to education. The new government deliberately pursued a policy that made it easier for those who came from "working people" to receive education and made it difficult for people of "non-working" origin. As a result, with a sharp increase in the number of people with a high education (if in the Russian Empire people of mental labor accounted for about 2–3%, then by the 1980s they accounted for more than a quarter of all workers in the USSR), there was a decrease in the quality of both their education and their general culture. . The ethical component in the definition of the intelligentsia receded into the background, under the "intelligentsia" they began to understand all the "knowledge workers" - the social "stratum".
During the Soviet period, significant changes also took place in the relationship between the intelligentsia and the authorities. The activities of the intelligentsia were taken under strict control. Soviet intellectuals were obliged to propagate the "only true" communist ideology (or, at least, to demonstrate loyalty to it).
Under conditions of ideological coercion, a characteristic feature of the life of many Soviet intellectuals was alienation from political life, the desire to engage in only narrowly professional activities. Along with the officially recognized intelligentsia in the USSR, there remained a very small group of intellectuals who sought to defend the right to their independence and creative freedom from the ruling regime. They sought to destroy this oppositional part of the intelligentsia “as a class”: many were subjected to repression under far-fetched pretexts (we can recall the life of A. Akhmatova or I. Brodsky), all dissidents experienced pressure from censorship and restrictions on their professional activities. In the 1960s, a dissident movement arose among Soviet intellectuals, which remained until the end of the 1980s the only organized form of opposition in the USSR.
Modern Russian intelligentsia.
Opposition sentiments, widespread among the Soviet intelligentsia, found a way out in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when it was the intelligentsia that led the total criticism of the Soviet system, predetermining its moral condemnation and death. In Russia in the 1990s, the intelligentsia gained freedom of expression, but many intellectual workers faced a sharp decline in their standard of living, which caused them to become disillusioned with liberal reforms and become more critical. On the other hand, many prominent intellectuals were able to make a career and continue to support liberal ideology and liberal politicians. Thus, the post-Soviet intelligentsia was split into groups with different, in many respects, polar positions.
In this regard, there is a point of view according to which the intelligentsia in the proper sense of modern Russia not anymore. Supporters of this position distinguish three periods of evolution of the domestic intelligentsia. At the first stage (from the reforms of Peter the Great to the reform of 1861), the intelligentsia was just taking shape, claiming the role of academic adviser to the official authorities. The second period (1860s - 1920s) is the time of the real existence of the intelligentsia. It was during this period that the confrontation "power - intelligentsia - people" arises and the main characteristics of the intelligentsia are formed (service to the people, criticism of the existing government). After this period, the “phantom” existence of the intelligentsia follows and continues to this day: there is no longer any moral unity among educated people, but some Russian intellectuals still strive to fulfill the mission of enlightening the authorities.
In modern Russia, both approaches to the definition of the concept of "intelligentsia" are popular - both moral and ethical (in philosophical and cultural studies), and socio-professional (in sociology). The complexity of using the concept of "intelligentsia" in its ethical interpretation is associated with the uncertainty of the criteria by which one can judge whether people belong to this social group. Many of the old criteria - for example, opposition to the government - have lost some of their meaning, and ethical criteria are too abstract to be used for empirical research. The ever more frequent use of the concept of "intelligentsia" in the meaning of "persons of mental labor" shows that there is a rapprochement between the Russian intelligentsia and Western intellectuals.
In the late 1990s, “intellectual studies” arose in Russian science as a special area of interscientific humanitarian research. On the basis of Ivanovo State University, there is a Center for Intelligent Studies, which studies the intelligentsia as a phenomenon of Russian culture.
Natalia Latova
