American Intellectual Life

In addition, the developments of the 19th and 20th centuries included shifts where previous types of changes affecting intellectual life were followed by different types of changes. This can be seen in the shift of general standards for educated professions. In the period before independence, scholarly positions such as priests, scientists, and lawyers were more heavily concentrated among major educational institutions and members of higher classes. With the development of the print revolution and the expansion of public schools, there was great opportunity for men to educate themselves and seek entry int educated professions. With a more decentralized system of professions, those seeking to enter those professions could seek to do so by demonstrating

For instance, in the 19th century, Arnoldian thinkers put forward a philosophy of intellectual and cultural excellence, which involved a rigorous study of what they regarded to be best products of human thought and creativity. It could take on a democratic form, in the sense that it held that anyone could theoretically attain intellectual excellence, if they committed themselves to intensive study. Though Arnoldian thinking was also complicated by its tendency to presume the superiority of works produced by elite European men. Another instance can be seen with the group of progressive museum figures who reformed The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. They attempted to promote museum attendance among a broader segment of the population and made attempts to expand their contents into craft arts in an effort to engage more working-class residents of the city. Though it is uncertain how many people they succeeded in drawing into museum art engagement and the change in content didn’t necessarily entail an expansion of those who were granted formal recognition among official intellectual discourses over the operation of museums. Each, in their own ways, acted to advance intellectual democratization in some manner, and were involved in the broader contestations over the intellectual condition of

The U.S. government (federal, state, and local) has helped promote expanded access to information and intellectual participation through various actions: such as the creation of public schools, the development of the post office, and the Roosevelt era Federal Arts Programs. Though at times government policies have acted to obstruct the democratization of intellectual life. For instance, in the antebellum period, there were states which prohibited the education of slaves, and there were states which practiced unequal segregated schooling for much of the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. Furthermore, the actions of the government have at times affected the relative strength of various intellectual groups. For instance, Roosevelt’s federal arts program had the effect of expanding the influence of figures, such as Edgar Cahill and Stuart Davis, and their notions of desacralizing art. And with such influence, the merits and effects of the ideas which end up getting advanced as a result of government policy have an impact the democratization of intellectual life. The government and the market present persistent issues for intellectual democratization, in which their forms and practices can work to shape the democratic condition of intellectual