The intellectual in an age of monsters and monstrosities

The terms “münevver” or “aydın” (intellectual), which emerged in the early 20th century and are used in our language with a similar meaning to the word “intellectual,” also encompass possessing an enlightened, critical mind and way of thinking.

Selahattin Hilav notes that the term “fırka-i münevver” (class or group of intellectuals), used by some compatriots who were educated in Tsarist-era Russia and later came to Turkey, gives the impression of having been adapted from the Russian term “intelligentsia”—which passed into French in the 1920s—in that it includes not only those who are knowledgeable and well-equipped but also those who are concerned with social and political issues and are active in finding solutions (Selahattin Hilav, Entelektüeller ve Eylem, 3rd Edition, YKY, 2021.)

In today's world of savage capitalism, the burden on the shoulders of enlightened individuals seems to be increasing day by day. The responsibility to voice not what is, but what ought to be, stands as a stark reality.

While the methods and processes to be used in analyzing events under the intense deluge of information in the digital age are one dimension of the issue, another dimension is revealing and interpreting reality, and whether this is sufficient...!

Whatever we call the intellectual of the era, what falls upon the person who can write and speak is to grasp the realities of the age they live in and to turn their face toward perspectives regarding the future.

Bertolt Brecht says, “The only sign of respect to be shown to the audience is not to underestimate their intelligence and comprehension.” The intellectual must also be able to approach the citizen in this direction. They should neither see themselves as superior and be disrespectful, nor should they strive to pander to the undeveloped and degenerate thoughts and behaviors of the citizen/individual.

THE NEED FOR A CRITICAL MIND, STARTING AND SUSTAINING THE DISCUSSION…

Karl Marx stated that in almost every age, the prevailing and dominant views are the views of the ruling classes of that period.

Is it not the responsibility of the intellectual to speak not the words that are desired to be heard or that receive much applause, but the words that cause discomfort when spoken, the words that would create unease if heard, and to express views that will benefit the broad masses/laborers rather than the rulers?

Furthermore, the need to create a new language to voice existing realities and to reveal new truths is right before us; a new program and a space for gathering!

Humanity needs those who defend views, values, and ideals stemming from what ought to be rather than what is, those who take action in this direction, and those who object to what the dominant view imposes. In more general terms, it needs the creation of a ‘story’ and the transition to practice around that story with a collective consciousness...

Life is the product of contradictions, conflicts, and clashes. Life continues within this struggle...

The enlightened person who does not get involved in anything and stays in a corner minding their own business is, in the final analysis, involved in the spiral created by dominant ideologies and ideas, whether knowingly or unknowingly, whether they desire it or not.

Human history is witnessing these two different types of intellectuals.

In summary; we are in an age where the need is felt burning for those who can be the voice of laborers who cannot take bread home and are struggling to survive under difficult conditions, university students who commit suicide, women who fall victim to murder, those who remain under rubble in mines or earthquakes, and victims seeking justice; and for those who say what the perpetrators of events that wound consciences do not want to be heard, and who say it without playing to the galleries.

Asking and questioning are more important than ever.

An age that needs “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”...

And ‘meaning’...

The human effort to make life meaningful, the effort to live as one produces meanings... If meaning is not present, then life is incomplete.

With a longing for the effort to renew life and build the new...