ABSTRACT
The main event, of course, was one version or another of the "culture crisis," chosen by four out of five intellectuals who talked about culture. Unlike culture specialists who reflected a long-term interest in their particular subject matter, most of the intellectuals talking about the culture crisis were responding to the recent events of the 196o's. A response is almost by definition a reaction to something originated by someone else. Intellectuals who were concerned with the culture crisis were by and large on the defensive, acting the role of establishment rather than vanguard. Instead of setting up new standards or presenting new ideas they tended to defend the old. As defenders of the status quo, in the strictest sense of the term, most were conservative rather than progressive.
