Abstract
Intellectual fascism is the arbitrary belief that individuals possessing certain “good” traits (such as intelligence and creativity) are intrinsically superior to those possessing “bad” traits (such as stupidity or lack of artistry). Although it is true that under certain conditions and for various purposes some human traits are more advantageous or “better” than others, rating people as “good” or “bad” on the basis of their intellectual performances is inaccurate and is often as pernicious as is political-social fascism. Moreover, where political fascists at least rate themselves highly while damning and persecuting others, intellectual fascists tend to severely damn themselves (as well as others) when they lack superlative intellectual and artistic traits. According to RET, all global ratings of people tend to be fascistic overgeneralizations. Intellectual fascism is political-social fascism with the trait names changed—the same hearse with different license plates.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bandura, A. (1977).Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Bard, J. (1980).Rational-emotive therapy in practice. Champaign, IL: Research Press.
Ellis, A. (1962).Reason and emotion in psychotherapy. Secaucus, NJ: Citadel.
Ellis, A. (1971).Growth through reason. North Hollywood, CA: Wilshire Books.
Ellis, A. (1972).Psychotherapy and the value of a human being. New York: Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy.
Ellis, A. (1973).Humanistic psychotherapy: The rational-emotive approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ellis, A. (1976).RET abolishes most of the human ego. New York: Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy.
Ellis, A., & Becker, I. (1982).A guide to personal happiness. North Hollywood, CA: Wilshire Books.
Ellis, A., & Grieger, R. (Eds.) (1977).Handbook of rational-emotive therapy. New York: Springer.
Ellis, A., & Harper, R. A. (1975).A new guide to rational living. North Hollywood, CA: Wilshire Books.
Ellis, A., & Knaus, W. (1977).Overcoming procrastination. New York: New American Library.
Grieger, R., & Grieger, I. Z. (Eds.) (1982).Cognition and emotional disturbance. New York: Human Sciences Press.
Hartman, R. S. (1967).The measurement of value. Carbondale, IL: University of Southern Illinois Press.
Lazarus, A. A. (1977). Toward an egoless state of being. In A. Ellis and R. Grieger (Eds.),Handbook of rational-emotive therapy (pp. 113–118). New York: Springer.
Miller, T. (1983).So you secretly suspect you're worthless. Manlius, NY: Tom Miller.
Tillich, P. (1953).The courage to be. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Walen, S. R., diGuiseppe, R., & Wessler, R. L. (1980).A practitioner's guide to rational-emotive therapy. New York: Oxford.
Wessler, R. A., & Wessler, R. L. (1980).The principles and practice of rational-emotive therapy. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This article is a revision of one that originally appeared in a book by Dr. Ellis entitledSuppressed.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ellis, A. Intellectual fascism. J Rational-Emot Cognitive-Behav Ther 3, 3–12 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01473501
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01473501