I hated it so much. In debates about the Russian intelligentsia

The intelligentsia in Russia was never considered simply as a certain social layer or a group of people united by a certain occupation (mental work), it was impossible to apply the designation “intellectuals” adopted in the West. Quick enough, even in the first third of the XIX century, one of the main (if not the most basic) sign of the Russian intellectual was pronounced social messianism. Every Russian intellectual was certainly concerned about the fate of the Fatherland, imagined himself to be a bearer of social conscience, actively empowered “humiliated and offended” and was certainly in opposition to the state. Without this, it was unthinkable to be called an intellectual. Against the backdrop of the catastrophic events of the turn of the century, reasonable doubts arose and questions about the essence and role of the Russian intelligentsia, which claimed the role of social conscience, moral tuning fork and leaders of social development. Today, these disputes and articles of our thinkers about the Russian intelligentsia are relevant than ever. And how highly the theses have written more than a hundred years ago