Cast your ballot for the world’s top 100 public intellectuals

In our latest issue, FP has teamed up once again with Britain’s Prospect magazine to compile a list of the world’s top 100 public intellectuals. Our first effort in 2005 inspired quite the debate. Since then, dozens of new intellectuals have been added to the list: economists, clerics, neuroscientists, and environmentalists, to name just a few  — all of them influential in shaping the ideas of our time. 

We’re anxious to get your input. So, we want you to vote for your top 5 favorite intellectuals. Voting is easy — just point and click. There’s also a write-in option, to let us know who we should have included but didn’t. We’ll publish the results in our next issue.

Just what makes a public intellectual? You can check out our simple criteria, but better yet: Read about it straight from the horse’s mouth. Christopher Hitchens, one of our top public intellectuals, has penned an essay on the burdens and pleasures of making a living by ideas in our modern age. Voting is free to all, but — sorry folks — you’ll need to be a subscriber to read what Hitch has to say.