Anti-intellectualism refers to a range of attitudes, characterized by skepticism, mistrust or criticism of intellect, intellectuals, or intellectualism. It is commonly expressed as questioning the value or relevance of intellectual pursuits, including education and philosophy, and the dismissal of art, literature, history, and science as impractical, politically motivated, and even contemptible human endeavours.A Handbook to Literature (1980), Fourth Edition, C. Hugh Holman, Ed. p. 27 Anti-intellectuals may present themselves and be perceived as champions of common folk—populists against political and academic elitism—and tend to see educated people as a status class that dominates political discourse and higher education while being detached from the concerns of ordinary people.
Totalitarian governments have, in the past, manipulated and applied anti-intellectualism to repress political dissent. During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the following dictatorship (1939–1975) of Francisco Franco, the reactionary repression of the White Terror (1936–1945) was notably anti-intellectual, with most of the 200,000 civilians killed being the Spanish intelligentsia, the politically active teachers and academics, artists and writers of the deposed Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939).Dictionary of Wars (2007), Third Edition, pp. 517–18. During the Cambodian genocide (1975–1979), the totalitarian regime of Cambodia led by Pol Pot nearly destroyed its entire educated population.
Anti-intellectualism manifests in various forms across cultures and historical periods and is influenced by complex social dynamics. It can stem from a distrust of elites or institutions perceived as disconnected from everyday experiences, concerns about cultural identity, or competition in valuing practical knowledge over theoretical or academic expertise. As such, psychological research suggests that certain individuals with anti-intellectual attitudes could sometimes lean towards a display of confidence in their personal experiences rather than trusting authorities, while others adopt their anti-intellectual positions as a reaction to perceived threats to their social status or group identity.
The topic of anti-intellectualism has become a more widely discussed phenomenon in recent years, particularly due to its role in shaping public perception of expertise in science and education. This has led to widespread skepticism of scientific experts and advancements, raising questions about the dangers of anti-intellectualism in public health. The increasing use of anti-intellectualism in politics can be seen in modern society, such as the anti-vax movement.
Ideological anti-intellectualism
In the 20th century, societies systematically removed intellectuals from power to expediently end public political dissent. During the Cold War (1945–1991), the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1948–1990) ostracized the playwright Václav Havel as politically unreliable and unworthy of ordinary people's trust; the anti-communist Velvet Revolution of 1989 elected Havel president. Ideologically-extreme dictatorships who mean to recreate a society such as the Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia (1975–1979) pre-emptively killed potential political opponents, especially the educated middle-class and the intelligentsia. To realize the Year Zero of Cambodian history, Khmer Rouge social engineering restructured the economy by de-industrialization and assassinated non-communist Cambodians suspected of "involvement in free-market activities" such as the urban professionals of society (physicians, attorneys, engineers, et al.) and people with political connections to foreign governments. The doctrine of Pol Pot identified the farmers as the true proletariat of Cambodia and the true representatives of the working class entitled to hold government power, hence the anti-intellectual purges.
In 1966, the anti-communist Argentine military dictatorship of Juan Carlos Onganía (1966–1970) intervened at the University of Buenos Aires with the Night of the Long Batons to physically dislodge politically dangerous academics from five university faculties. That expulsion to the exile of the academic intelligentsia became a national brain drain upon the society and economy of Argentina.Police repression at the Universidad de Buenos Aires - University of Toronto La noche de los bastones largos In opposition to the military repression of free speech, biochemist César Milstein said ironically: "Our country would be put in order, as soon as all the intellectuals who were meddling in the region were expelled."
Academic anti-intellectualism In The Campus War (1971), the philosopher John Searle said,
In Social Sciences as Sorcery (1972), the sociologist Stanislav Andreski advised laymen to distrust the intellectuals' appeals to authority when they make questionable claims about resolving the problems of their society: "Do not be impressed by the imprint of a famous publishing house, or the volume of an author's publications. ... Remember that the publishers want to keep the printing presses busy, and do not object to nonsense if it can be sold."Stanislav Andreski, The Social Sciences as Sorcery. 1972, The University of California Press
In Science and Relativism: Some Key Controversies in the Philosophy of Science (1990), philosopher of science and epistemologist Larry Laudan said that the prevailing type of philosophy taught at universities in the U.S. (Postmodernism and Poststructuralism) is anti-intellectual, because "the displacement of the idea that facts and evidence matter, by the idea that everything boils down to subjective interests and perspectives is—second only to American political campaigns—the most prominent and pernicious manifestation of anti-intellectualism in our time."Larry Laudan, Science and Relativism: Some Key Controversies in the Philosophy of Science (1990), University of Chicago Press
Distrust of intellectuals In the U.S., the conservative American economist Thomas Sowell argued for distinctions between unreasonable and reasonable wariness of intellectuals in their influence upon the institutions of a society. In defining intellectuals as "people whose occupations deal primarily with ideas", Sowell conveys the view that they are different from people whose work is the practical application of ideas. Under this framework, the cause for layman's mistrust lies in the intellectuals' supposed incompetence outside their fields of expertise. The portrayed view is that, although having great working knowledge in their specialist fields when compared to other professions and occupations, the intellectuals of society could face little discouragement against speaking authoritatively beyond their field of formal expertise and thus are unlikely to face responsibility for the social and practical consequences of their errors. Hence, a physician is judged competent by the effective treatment of a patient's sickness, yet might face a medical malpractice lawsuit should the treatment harm the patient. In contrast, a tenured university professor is unlikely to be judged competent or incompetent by the effectiveness of their intellectualism (ideas) and thus not face responsibility for the social and practical consequences of the implementation of the ideas.
In Britain, the anti-intellectualism of the writer Paul Johnson derived from his close examination of twentieth-century history, which brought him to the conclusion that intellectuals have continually championed disastrous public policies for social welfare and public education, and warned the layman public to "beware [the] intellectuals. Not merely should they be kept well away from the levers of power, they should also be objects of suspicion when they seek to offer collective advice." In that vein, "In the Land of the Rococo Marxists" (2000), the American writer Tom Wolfe characterized the intellectual as "a person knowledgeable in one field, who speaks out only in others."Wolfe, Tom. (2000). "In the Land of the Rococo Marxists", Harper's Monthly, June 2000. In 2000, British publisher Imprint Academic published Dumbing Down, a compilation of essays edited by Ivo Mosley, grandson of the British fascist Oswald Mosley, which included essays on a perceived widespread anti-intellectualism by Jaron Lanier, Ravi Shankar, Robert Brustein, Michael Oakshott among others.
Discrimination Discrimination of excellence is the violation of formal equality of opportunity and meritocracy, which reward merits of individuals and overachievement. Discrimination of excellence can be caused by different reasons, including legacy preferences, nepotism, substantive equality, affirmative action, ageism or random luck.
An example is when academics, teachers, and students were targeted during the Cambodian genocide. Khmer Rouge chose new teachers by ideology and not by teaching excellence, which resulted in high illiteracy. Gifted education has been criticized on substantive equality grounds.
Legacy preferences for college admissions have been criticized. Discrimination against excellent students during admissions to Ivy League has been debated during 2019 college admissions bribery scandal. The United States Department of Justice scrutinized higher education over potential systemic biases in college admission standards that would underweight transparent standardized testing criteria due to affirmative action. Harvard College has been sued in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College due to individuals outperforming on standardized college admission tests but not being admitted. Non-merit-based admissions practices, degree conferral or promotion standards have been criticized. Some universities perform affirmative action on men, in order to maintain a gender balance.
In the United States
17th century
In The Powring Out of the Seven Vials (1642), the Puritan John Cotton demonized intellectual men and women by saying that "the more learned and witty you bee, the more fit to act for Satan will you bee. ... Take off the fond doting ... upon the learning of the Jesuits, and the glorie of the Episcopacy, and the brave estates of the Prelates. I say bee not deceived by these pompes, empty shewes, and faire representations of goodly condition before the eyes of flesh and blood, bee not taken with the applause of these persons".Hofstadter, Richard Anti-intellectualism in American Life (1962), p. 46. Yet, not every Puritan concurred with Cotton's religious contempt for secular education, such as John Harvard, a major early benefactor of the university which now bears his name.
In The Quest for Cosmic Justice (2001), the economist Thomas Sowell said that anti-intellectualism in the U.S. began in the early Colonial era as an understandable wariness of the educated upper classes because the country mostly was built by people who had fled political and religious persecution by the social system of the educated upper classes. Moreover, few intellectuals possessed the practical hands-on skills required to survive in the New World of North America, which absence from society led to a deep-rooted, populist suspicion of men and women who specialize in "verbal virtuosity", rather than tangible, measurable products and services:Sowell, Thomas. (2001) The Quest for Cosmic Justice. Simon and Schuster, 2001, , p. 187.