Zinman M. Richard - The public intellectual: between philosophy and politics

This is the sixth volume of essays to be published by the Symposium on Science, Reason, and Modern Democracy. Established in 1989 in the Department of Political Science at Michigan State University, the symposium is a center for research and debate on the pressing political and intellectual issues of our time. It sponsors lectures, conferences, publications, and teaching, as well as graduate, postdoctoral, and senior fellowships. Its specific mission is to explore the intersection of public policy and philosophy: to study the problems of Americas political culture in their vital connection to Americas intellectual culture.

This volume grew from the symposiums eighth annual program, The Idea of Public Intellectual, a lecture series and a conference held at Michigan State during the 19961997 academic year. The conference was organized by the symposium and the Center for Theoretical Study, an institute of advanced studies jointly administered by Charles University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. It was designed to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Charter 77, the human rights movement founded by dissident Czech and Slovak intellectuals that prepared the way for the Velvet Revolution.

In planning the conference, we worked closely with Martin Palou, then senior research fellow at the Center for Theoretical Study and now ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States. We thank Ambassador Palou for his essential contribution to our joint enterprise. We also thank Ivan M. Havel, director, and Ivan Chvatk, codirector, of the center, and their colleagues, especially Josef Moural, for their valuable support.

Most of the essays collected in this volume were originally written for the symposiums 19961997 program. Eight are published here for the first time. Versions of five others have appeared elsewhere. A different version of Thomas Pangles essay appeared in Canadian Political Philosophy at the Turn of the Century: Exemplary Essays, ed. R. Beiner and W. Norman (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000). A much earlier version of Gordon Woods chapter was published in Leadership in the American Revolution (Washington: Library of Congress, 1974). Tony Judts essay appeared in his book The Burden of Responsibility: Blum, Camus, Aron, and the French Twentieth Century (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998). Various versions of Adam Michniks chapter have appeared in print. Martha Nussbaums chapter was published in Ethics 108, no. 4 (July 1998): 76296. We thank these contributors and their publishers for permission to reprint.

The symposiums 19961997 program and all its activities were made possible by grants from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the Carthage Foundation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the Earhart Foundation of Ann Arbor, Michigan; and the John M. Olin Foundation of New York City. Once again, we are grateful for their support.

Michigan States Department of Political Science has been home to the symposium since its founding. Michigan States College of Social Science and James Madison College have also aided us in many ways. We thank our colleagues in each of these institutions. In particular, we thank Phil Smith, former acting dean of the College of Social Science; Brian Silver, former chair of the Department of Political Science; William Allen, former dean of James Madison College; Werner Dannhauser, the symposiums senior research fellow; and Larry Cooper, the symposiums postdoctoral fellow for 19961997 for their special contributions during our eighth year. We also thank John Hudzik, dean of Michigan States International Studies and Programs, and Norman Graham, director of Michigan States Center for European and Russian Studies, for their support of the conference in East Lansing. As always, we are especially grateful to Karen Battin, the symposiums administrative coordinator, for her fine work.

In addition to the authors whose essays are included in this volume, the following individuals took part in the symposiums 19961997 program: Stanley Crouch, John Gray, Mikls Haraszti, Ivan Havel, Krysztof Jasiewicz, Martin Palou, G. M. Tams, Vladimir Tismaneanu, and Ivan Vejvoda. We thank them for their important contributions.