Norman Mailer, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Germaine Greer, Martin Amis . . . with their regular TV appearances, newspaper columns and sound-bites in times of crisis, intellectuals are essential characters in the drama of modern life. What makes them tick?
With Niccolo Machiavelli's notorious tract on statecraft, 'The Prince', firmly in mind, Steve Fuller dissects what it means to be an Intellectual - a Prince for our time.
What is an intellectual? What distinguishes them from philosophers, scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs? How do they stalk their quarry? What codes do they live by? Why are they happy to be insulted as long as they are not ignored?
Get to the heart of what it means to be an intellectual and meet exemplars along the way like Voltaire, Sartre, Chomsky, Fukuyama and many more. Think you would recognise an intellectual when you saw one? Entertain hopes of intellectualism yourself? Here's the essential guide.
