The journals Foreign Policy and The Prospect have collaborated on a project to name the world's top "public intellectuals." Their list of 100 includes one classicist (ok, classed as a philosopher): Martha Nussbaum. A Kagan is on the list, but it's not Donald. Web-voting for your top 5 choices, with the possibility of adding a write-in candidate to their list, can be done here. Their criteria for "public intellectual":
What is a public intellectual? Someone who has shown distinction in their own field along with the ability to communicate ideas and influence debate outside of it.Candidates must have been alive, and still active in public life (though many on this list are past their prime). Such criteria ruled out the likes of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Milton Friedman, who would have been automatic inclusions 20 or so years ago. This list is about public influence, not intrinsic achievement. And that is where things get really tricky. Judging influence is hard enough inside one’s own culture, but when you are peering across cultures and languages, the problem becomes far harder.
[Thanks to Political Animal]
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