Intellectual Pursuits: Toward an Understanding of Culture

This book sets out to clarify several basic topics in current humanities and social science discourses that are badly muddled. The heart of the clarification is contained in Barber’s definition of culture, derived from social system theory, that provides us with a better understanding of today’s debate on intelectuals and the pursuit of science. Barber examines the ways in which intellectual culture is defined; the construction of ideologies and ideologists; and the structure of cultural sub-systems (high-middle-low). The book deftly interweaves these concepts to illuminate the present and historical situations of conflict in the universities, and elsewhere. He distinguishes between those who emphasize the cultural norm of knowledge for its own sake, and those whose norms are primarily ideological and reformist. Intellectual Pursuits: Towards an Understanding of Culture will challenge readers to consider their own intellectual positions from both within, and outside the university, and sharpens our perspectives on the role of intellectuals in society.