Intellectuals In an Era of Crisis and Socio-Cultural Change: The View of the Soviet Philosopher S.Y. Volfson

Abstract

 This paper presents the perspective of the Soviet philosopher and sociologist Syoma Yakovlevich Volfson on the place of the intelligentsia within a class society. In his work “The Intelligentsia as a Socio-Economic Category”, Volfson discusses whether the intellectuals constitute a distinct socio-economic category, whether it is attached to a particular class, occupies an intermediate position between specific classes, or whether the very concept of the intellectuals should be abandoned altogether. Paying particular attention to capitalism, Volfson, through an examination of the historical development of humanity, demonstrates how the class consciousness of the intellectuals evolved and what led to the full establishment of the intellectuals as a socio-economic category. The author notes that it is precisely capitalism that “in every possible way saturates the consciousness of the proletarian intellectual with the idea that he—as an artist, doctor, or teacher—and the worker—a metalworker or textile worker—have nothing in common”. Although Volfson does not provide a definitive resolution to the question of the intellectuals, his analysis nonetheless poses the problem in a rigorous manner and offers substantial material for further scholarly inquiry.