In Antonio Gramsci, “Formation of the Intellectuals” what is constantly being reiterated is the concept of what it means to be considered a “traditional intellectual” (931). This led me to reflect on what I as a person use to consider someone as being an intellectual as well as how the education system sets up students to become intellectuals based on state standards. The concept of being considered intellectual being formed as an “organic”(930) construct was impactful, leading me to wonder if intelligence in itself is already pre decided based on your genetic makeup or ancestral history. The capacity in which a person is able to store their knowledge and has access to certain knowledge could evidently influence the amount of intellectual information a person obtains.
While the term “intellectual” holds various meanings as far as what as a society considers a person to need in order to be considered an intellectual person, it leads me to wonder who then ultimately is correct? Is it the educational system that is flawed which creates the standards that we received and must pass in order to obtain a diploma or certification ? Or the intellectuals themselves who create the criteria for whom is considered an intellectual?
Gramsci states, “And we have already observed that the entrepreneur, by virtue of his very function, must have to some degree a certain number of qualifications of an intellectual nature although his part in society is determined not by these, but by the general social relations which specifically characterise the position of the entrepreneur within industry.” (932) in this moment Gramsci is discussing the means in which an entrepreneur must go through in order to be considered an intellectual person. The assumption being that if the entrepreneur is successful this would mean they are an intellectual because they had the ability to make educated decisions that positively affected their business of entrepreneurship. While this is true, I agree with an entrepreneur having intellect in their speciality and their choice of profession. It does take a certain skill set in order to master a trade and execute it along with other concepts that are in the foreground such as balancing expenses, taxes, insurance etc. that comes with a business. My wonder then is, would the intellect of the entrepreneur be put into question if their business or deal does not hold a positive outcome? Would the entrepreneur then not be considered an intellectual?