They say about some people: "He is a real intellectual!" Does this mean that a person is educated or intelligent, morally stable, or a patriot? Let's see when this concept arose and what meaning is embedded in it.
Etymology of the word
"Intelligent" - this word has Latin roots. Literally translated as "knowing, understanding, thinking." It came into use in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. In the cultural layers of society, it was originally a kind of synonym for the word "nobility", but later acquired a different meaning.
In the turbulent period of the change of epochs at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the advanced and enlightened minds of the Russian Empire propagated: "… to fight forever and forever to lose", "calm - spiritual meanness", "living honestly means fighting and not being afraid to make mistakes." Such a worldview has renewed the concept of the intelligentsia. Its representative, an intellectual, is a brave, decisive and honest person, a patriot and a courageous fighter for human rights. He is smart, fair, dedicated. An intellectual is not a layman, but an active and useful member of society, his life is not separable from what matters to the people. The meaning of this concept was a kind of alternative to the word "revolutionary."
Interpretation of the word in the 20th century in Russia and the West
After the October Revolution of 1917, the country lay in ruins. For her revival, strong working hands were needed, so the workers became a privileged class, and mental figures went into the shadows. Moreover, the word "intellectual" began to sound contemptuous. Now calling someone like that, they meant that a person is a parasite sitting on the neck of society, a lazy person and a rogue, useless for society.
In developed foreign countries, this word also acquired a different meaning, but the vector of its renewal was completely different. In the West, an “intellectual” is a synonym for the word “intellectual”. It means people engaged in mental work. Scientists, teachers, doctors, artists and lawyers are intellectuals, regardless of moral values, they are not required to be the bearers of ideals.
