Disarming Intelligence

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By Zakir Paul *15

Published March 24, 2025

Intelligence became a focal point in psychology, philosophy, and literature in the late 19th century. In Disarming Intelligence (Princeton University Press), Paul studies how individuals like Marcel Proust, Henri Bergson, and Paul Valéry subtly challenge its definitions, ultimately seeing it as both an individual and collective force. With reflections on World War I, interwar tensions, and modern-day artificial intelligence, Paul reveals intelligence to be a still fluid and contested concept. 

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The January 2026 cover of PAW, featuring a man and a woman and the headline "Empower Couple."
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