The Western intellectual tradition, particularly that of the post-Renaissance period, has constructed over the years and learned, at times uneasily, to live with an image of itself which it finds reflected in the life and work of countless figures of poets, artists, writers, philosophers and scientists. The alienated intellectual in this view is pictured as an individual who stands, in the final analysis, outside time and society, embodying specific values — moral and ethical absolutes which, by implication or design, pass judgement on contemporary society, politics and religion. That this view has always been open to debate and criticism, especially in the present century, does not in any way diminish the potency of this mythic image. Indeed, it could even be said to be one of its strong points.