Indicting the Anti-Intellectual Presidency
This chapter tackles the normative justifications of anti-intellectualism to explain its political seductiveness and, in rejecting them, explicates why anti-intellectualism damages democracy. In particular, it illustrates why presidential anti-intellectualism is a threat to democracy. The first two arguments presented are active justifications: the argument against elitism and the argument for participation. The third and fourth arguments are passive defenses of anti-intellectualism: the argument of inconsequentialism and the argument from necessity. It is stated that anti-intellectual rhetoric is a poor surrogate for genuine democratic responsiveness.
Keywords: anti-intellectual presidency, democracy, anti-intellectualism, justifications, argument against elitism, argument of inconsequentialism, argument from necessity
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