Two Developments in the Rise of the Modern Intellectual

This paper argues that two linked intellectual developments--the "Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns" and the evolution of the genius concept--played an important yet often ignored role in the rise of the modern intellectual. It is suggested that these two developments led ultimately to a climate of opinion receptive to the view of the critical intellectual as one who feels himself compelled to act as a "conscience" of society--a view inextricably linked with the very definition of the terms "genius" and, to a degree, "intellectual." The failure to appreciate the contributions of the genius concept to the making of the modern intellectual, so it is argued, will lead to a less than thorough and comprehensive understanding of the struggles and complexities involved in the development of the modern man of intellect.