Jack Semancik’s Reviews > Anti-Intellectualism in American Life > Status Update
Jack Semancik
is on page 55 of 434
Hofstadter introduces the three overarching ideologies that largely uphold anti-intellectual strains of thought in the U.S.: evangelicalism, primitivism, and business activism. Evangelicals uphold the heart as virtuous and separate from the mind, primitivists uphold ignorance as a virtue, and business interests tend to find the deliberative nature of intellectuals harmful to the principle of profit.
— Jan 11, 2026 11:00AM
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Jack Semancik
is on page 24 of 434
Hofstadter begins this work (which, it should be noted, was originally published in 1962) by outlining the variously skeptical and hostile stances of Americans towards intellectuals and institutions seen as such. Although he stresses that it is often in more benign forms that are attached to justifiable causes, Hofstadter posits that this anti-intellectualism is visibly present within politics. This seems timely.
— Jan 08, 2026 10:05AM
