Parsi Kayhan P, Geraghty Karen E
Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, Loyola University Chicago, USA.
Am J Bioeth. 2004 Winter;4(1):W17-23. doi: 10.1162/152651604773067514.
Public intellectuals have long played a role in American culture, filling the gap between the academic elite and the educated public. According to some commentators, the role of the public intellectual has undergone a steady decline for the past several decades, being replaced by the academic expert. The most notable cause of this decline has been both the growth of the academy in the twentieth century,which has served to concentrate intellectual activity within its confines, and the changing nature of the media, which has framed the way in which information is conveyed to the public. We argue that although bioethics has developed primarily within the academic tradition and utilized the role of expert when dealing with the public, bioethicists are well suited to don the mantle of the public intellectual. Indeed, because they address issues in medicine and science of great relevance for the general public, bioethicists have a duty to revitalize the tradition of public intellectuals as a necessary complement to the important, but narrower role of the expert.
公共知识分子长期以来在美国文化中发挥着作用，填补了学术精英与受过教育的公众之间的空白。一些评论家认为，在过去几十年里，公共知识分子的角色一直在稳步衰落，已被学术专家所取代。这种衰落最显著的原因，一是20世纪学术界的发展，它将知识活动集中在其范围内；二是媒体性质的变化，它塑造了信息向公众传播的方式。我们认为，尽管生物伦理学主要是在学术传统中发展起来的，并且在与公众打交道时利用了专家的角色，但生物伦理学家非常适合披上公共知识分子的外衣。事实上，由于他们处理的医学和科学问题与普通公众密切相关，生物伦理学家有责任振兴公共知识分子的传统，作为对重要但范围较窄的专家角色的必要补充。
