Is there such a thing as a right wing intellectual?

[rhino47]

If so whom would it be?I honestly can not think of one respected right winger intellectual.There are tons of right wing nut ideologues though.
The right wing fosters regression in thought instead of enlightenment.Right wing thinking does not hold up to intellectual process.The wing nuts have a thing against the courts.They think it is because the courts were "liberal" when in fact their ideaology was flawed.Liberals usually win the cases because the foundations of this nation are liberal.

[Random_Australian]

1. There is such a thing, give me some standards and I will send examples.

[rhino47]

2. I would even take wikipedias explaination of intellectual.

An intellectual is a person who uses his or her intellect to study, reflect, speculate on, or ask and answer questions with regard to a variety of different ideas.

There are, broadly, three modern definitions at work in discussions about intellectuals. Firstly, 'intellectuals' as those deeply involved in ideas, books, the life of the mind. Secondly, and here largely arising from Marxism, 'intellectuals' as that recognisable occupational class consisting of lecturers, teachers, lawyers, journalists, and suchlike. Thirdly, cultural "intellectuals", being those of notable expertise in culture and the arts, expertise which allows them some cultural authority, and who then use that authority to speak in public on other matters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual

[Random_Australian]

3. Hmmm, that makes it difficult. Well, there are certainly smart &

competent RWers, and I will say that I could readily name a very intelligent RWer, intellectual is not something I can really say. Depends if you think Bob Carr was just a faux RWer. The other thing that complicates are the different definitions of RW & LW.

[yellowdogintexas]

4. William F Buckley would be the closest I could come to

an intellectual RW person.

Although by todays RW standards, Ole Bill comes off as fairly moderate.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. Karl Popper?

At least based on his RW economic views.

[otherlander]

6. There's this guy...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Nussimbaum

He was pretty smart but I'm not sure if you'd call him an intellectual. :shrug:

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. William Safire, but I'd call him conservative, not right wing.

Cal Thomas does somewhat well at times.

[Telly Savalas]

8. Ted Nugent?

[Flaxbee]

9. Dr. Strangelove himself...

Charles Krauthammer, M.D. Oddly enough, he worked for Carter and Mondale.

[SmileyBoy]

10. George Will, maybe.

At the very least, he seems to have a lot of knowledge in different issues, it's just that his opinion is wrong.

Especially his girlish crush on baseball. I mean, who cares??

[Joey Liberal]

11. No. Rightwingers are by their very nature complete idiots n/t

[Fox Mulder]

12. Ben Stein?

He's smart, isn't he? I think he is, anyway. :shrug:

Here's his political contributions: http://www.newsmeat.com/celebrity_political_donations/Ben_Stein.php

[Catchawave]

16. First name that popped in mind too

I liked his show Win Ben Stein's Money.

[Fleshdancer]

13. I have met a few...

but I couldn't call them right wingers by today's standards. It has been my experience that when talking to one, the political debates usually center around economic theory and sometimes foreign policy. These individuals are very intelligent in my opinion and are able to carry on a political debate without insulting anyone who thinks differently.

[ghostsofgiants]

17. Well the term "right wing" is usually misused...

It actually is a term that is supposed to be in reference to a person's economic philosophy. In that vein, I'd name someone like Milton Friedman as a right wing intellectual. What most people use right wing to refer to would probably be better referred to as authoritarian. Someone like Jeane Kirkpatrick, who modeled the rationale for Reagan's support of authoritarian dictatorships to fight the Commies during the Cold War.

Kirkpatrick is actually both, since she's a neoconservative (ie. a proponent of using forced to spread the wonders of the free market to the rest of the world).

Now when you get into things like social conservatism, which is also authoritarian in nature, you start getting a lot of people like Rick Santorum and such coming to the forefront, whose status as intellectuals is certainly up for question (if it even exists).

Just because someone doesn't agree with us doesn't mean that person can't be an intellectual.

[EstimatedProphet]

14. Yes, and they're usually named Bubba

Many of them are missing fingers due to careless use of explosives as recreation.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Of course there are

I might not agree with them but it makes them no less intellectual. A few I can think of are : Theodore Olsen
Eugene Volokh
Van Dien

All are members of the Federalist Society; all would qualify as right wing and all would be considered intellectuals. As much as I can't stand any of them, they all got to where they are by being intellectuals. If one can argue before the USSC and prevail, one must be an intellect. Being an intellect doesn't mean one isn't wrong, it means one uses deductive reasoning to arrive at a point and poses questions that are difficult to answer but can arrive at an answer using a proscribed process.

[UTUSN]

18. No, because their philosophy/world view is inherently LIMITED

It's a closed system. Wingnut minds are closed. BUCKLEY's shtick is impersonating the mannerisms of some intellectuals. But he has always done the same thing, twist himself into pretzels to justify/rationalize the same wingnut philosophy. He defended Tricky Dick the same way he does everything, finding SOME "moral", medieval, logical-gimmick ----and PRESTO!1 he does the magic bullet thingy ending up where he was before!!1