As a social group intellectuals everywhere are almost always gripped by certain tensions and uncertainties. Some of these tensions are inherent in the universal role of intellectuals as creators and carriers of culture; others reflect the particular socio-economic and political milieu in which they live. Although, for instance, the American intellectual has been enjoying more power and status in society, he still must “avoid the twin temptations of total withdrawal and total integration.” As intellectuals are being increasingly absorbed and recognized by various parts of the American “establishment,” they seem haunted by the fear of selling out or losing part of their creative and critical role in society.
Conversely, total detachment or alienation may also be self-defeating. Likewise, some observers have found the English intellectual “gentlemanly, amateurish and unrigorous, too near the upper classes and to established power to exercise real independence of mind and creativity.” The French intellectual also appears to be plagued by the same paradox. “There is no country in the world where intellectuals have more influence, attract more attention, or enjoy more prestige than they do in France. But the relationship between French intellectuals and the society to which they belong is a paradoxical one.”