The article debates twenty distinct views on the role of intellectuals in Brazilian society in the late 19th century after the controversy between Machado de Assis and Silvio Romero. The emphasis falls on the conditions of our thinkers among the absence of an autonomous intellectual field and especially Machado de Assis' view on intellectuals. We conclude with an analysis of his condition as an established outsider - a position that marked his criticism to "men of science" and his resistance to the hegemonic ideas of hi times.
Machado de Assis; Silvio Romero; Intelectual; Society; Science