The Neo Sophists: Intellectual integrity in the Information Age

Abstract

This paper examines the pervasive intellectual deceit clearly documented in the tobacco industry and provides evidence to support the notion that these practices are not unlike those currently being perpetrated by the popular media, computer industry, and certain members of the educational community. Examples of determined efforts to erase the intellectual boundaries between the profit-generating models of business and the intellectual pursuits of the academic community are considered, and the inherent conflict between academic pursuits and business pursuits are discussed.