Intellectuals are philosophers, are writers, are artists. These are all people who work with their minds by questioning the events that affect them and are affected by them. To recall Plato's famous allegory, we can say that intellectuals are those who are able to look beyond the shadows and never take concepts for granted. However, some questions remain unanswered about their role and, more specifically, whether they should engage in politics. Over the years, responses and behaviors towards engaged culture have been varied and we can assume that intellectuals who cannot separate the two live actively because they want to be part of the events around them and let conscience prevail on apathy. On the contrary, we can assume that those who allow apathy to prevail are the intellectuals who consider politics and culture as two different and specific concepts and who live a solitary life, far from society. However, this judgment is not appropriate because it would be difficult to consider to what extent loneliness can be considered cowardice and to what extent action can be considered conscience. The word intellectual used so far does not exempt us, ordinary people, from this dilemma and does not allow us to believe that we have no influence on the course of history. As said before, this is an unanswered question, but to draw some conclusions it would be essential to revisit what Epicurus thought about life and revisit what Gramsci meant by being partisan. It is equally important to return to the way in which these two philosophies influenced literature and art, by reading Sartre's reflections on the committed writer and reminding our minds of some...... middle of paper ...... echoes of intellectuals like Epicurus, Gramsci, Sartre and Picasso, but if we look at each of us more closely, our actions do indeed have weight and consequences throughout history. It is for this reason that we, "non-organic" citizens and intellectuals, must try to find our meaning. Works CitedArt for art's sake: its illusion and its wickedness. The World of Art, Vol.2. May 1917. 98-102 Better to go out than to come in. 2013. Internet. November 17, 2013. Epicure. Letter to Menoeceus. The Internet Classics Archive, 1994. Gramsci, Antonio. I hate indifferent people. Città Futura, 1917. Sartre, Jean-Paul. What is literature? New York: Philosophical Library, 1949. Archive.org. June 2005. Internet Archive. November 12, 2013. Smith, Roberta. "Mysterious man, painting the city. Banksy makes New York his gallery for a month." The New York Times. Internet. October 30, 2013: C1. Internet. November 17. 2013.