I get that this is--to a certain extent--just more book advertising, but I appreciate Brooke's fairly consistent attempts to instigate public philosophical discussion.
Intellectuals are given less authority and are more specialized. They write more for each other and are less likely to volley moral systems onto the public stage.
-I doubt this was any different in the past, at least regarding who intellectuals were writing for. Can we credit it a victory that intellectuals aren't volleying moral systems on to the public stage? The last thing I need is a bunch of moral systems flying at my head. I think its enough that "intellectuals" put forth ideas and let us decide how to take those ideas and construct our own moral code. I think Brooks is nostalgic for a time that never existed. I think that's conservatism in a nutshell.