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The Perils of a Public Intellectual
Author(s) -
Harris Benjamin
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1998.tb01209.x
Subject(s) - communism , politics , league , socialism , public life , world war ii , sociology , gestalt psychology , law , political science , psychology , physics , astronomy , neuroscience , perception
In 1939 George W. Hartmann was Chairman of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) and a prominent activist‐scholar. By the end of World War II, his teaching career and psychological health lay in ruin, and he never reestablished his influence as a psychopolitical expert. This article traces the rise and fall of Hartmann's career and its unique mixture of Gestalt psychology, socialism, and anti‐Communism. Unpublished correspondence, family papers, and files from the FBI and other intelligence agencies are used to recreate Hartmann's political personae—including Socialist electoral candidate, chairman of Peace Now, and leader of the War Resisters League. His life as a public intellectual is used to reflect upon the nature of psychological expertise at midcentury.