In Anti-intellectualism in American Life, Hofstadter delineates the social movements that altered the role of intellect in American society from a virtue to a vice. In so doing, he explores questions regarding the purpose of
education and whether the democratization of education altered that purpose and reshaped its form. In considering the historic tension between access to education and
excellence in education, Hofstadter argues that both anti-intellectualism and utilitarianism were consequences, in part, of the democratization of knowledge. Moreover, he sees these themes as historically embedded in America's national fabric, an outcome of her colonial European and evangelical
Protestant heritage. Anti-intellectualism and utilitarianism were functions of American cultural heritage, not necessarily of democracy.
Background Information
Higher education in America originally began to provide the Protestant churches with educated clergymen. The Protestant Reformation began with Martin Luther and eventually spread to many other countries in reaction to policies of the Roman Catholic Church.
