The New York Public Intellectuals and Beyond: Exploring Liberal Humanism, Jewish Identity, and the American Protest Tradition

A Note on Organization

13 A Note on Organization The book is organized into two sections. The first, “The New York Intellectuals,” is a reflection upon, and a reconsideration of, many of the core Jewish public intellectuals from the 1920s through the 1950s. Written by intellectuals involved with this group, their students, and major scholars of the New York Intellectuals, this section also includes some discussion of their direct influences. The far more sprawling second section, “Beyond,” includes discussions of thinkers and writers who may be said to have prefigured the New York Intellectuals and those who fell outside the core group, as well as present-day public intellectuals . In some ways these all may be considered outliers or peripheral figures, differing in philosophy; racial, ethnic, and/or national heritage; and sex. Like the core New York Intellectuals, these figures are notable for fulfilling the public intellectual mission of bringing the clash of ideas into the wider public sphere, of in some way mixing academic thought with activism. All are understood better in light of the influence and achievements of the New York Intellectuals. The order in which the essays are discussed in the introduction is different from their placement in the book. The introduction is largely chronological and, to a lesser extent topical, in organization, lacking the bifurcated structure of the larger volume. Morris_FINAL.indb 13 Morris_FINAL.indb 13 9/25/2008 8:13:35 AM 9/25/2008 8:13:35 AM Morris_FINAL.indb 14 Morris_FINAL.indb 14 9/25/2008 8:13:35 AM 9/25/2008 8:13:35 AM ...