论知识分子及其向技术专家的蜕变

On Intellectuals and Their Transformation into Technical Experts

知识分子是一个历史范畴,尽管在每一个时代都会有一群掌握知识的人,但知识分子作为一个社会阶层的产生大致是在12世纪。在工业化、现代化的过程中,知识分子扮演了非常重要的角色,他们通过公共舆论而促进了近代以来的社会以及政治的发展。但是,到了20世纪50年代,知识分子实现了向技术专家的转化,并以技术专家的身份介入到了政策过程之中,从而直接地参与到了社会治理过程之中。当知识分子转化为技术专家之后,便成了专业化知识和技术的象征,其批判性和自主性也基本丧失了,不再担负起集中公众意见、刺激政治体系的功能。特别是在技术专家与技术合理性的社会之间实现了相互建构之后,甚至使整个社会治理体系都包含了某种"反民主"的倾向。

Intellectual is a historical category. Although there had been people of knowledge in every period of history, intellectuals, as a social class, emerged roughly in the 12th century. In the process of industrialization and modernization, intellectuals played a very important role. Through public opinion, they had promoted the development of modern society and politics. However, by the 1950s, intellectuals had realized the transformation into technical experts, and entered policy-making process as technical experts to be directly involved in the process of social governance. After such transformation, intellectuals had become emblems of specialized knowledge and technology, whose critical and autonomous quality were basically lost. They no longer function to gather public opinion or to stimulate reform in political systems. In particular, after the mutual construction between technical experts and the society of technological rationality, the entire social governance system displays certain ＂anti-democratic＂ tendencies.