Tragédia anunciada: Julien Benda e a (re)volta da traição dos Intelectuais

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In this article, I will indirectly revisit Julien Benda's emblematic work entitled The Treason of the Intellectuals, from 1927, as a way of raising the question that will guide the text: are we witnessing a return of the treason of intellectuals today? If so, what form does it take? This article has three parts. In the first, I contextualize the work and show how the identification initially postulated by Benda between philosopher and intellectual generates an important dissociation and a subversion of the concept of intellectual. In the second part, I explore the implications of this subversion and point to Benda's defense of democracy in the post-war context. In the third part, I explore the signs of the treason of intellectuals today, based on specific examples of university practices, and I suggest that the current scenario represents the announcement of a tragedy that is already known.