What is an Ivory Tower?
An ivory tower is used to represent a person aloof, or disengaged from the struggle and strife of the world. It is often applied to intellectuals and college professors, or simply to the extremely naïve, in a negative sense. The basic concept is that a person can theorize about the world all he or she wishes from the protective walls of a college, but that to live in it, without the benefit of an ivory tower, gives one a more realistic sense of how philosophy or art applies. The term is first used in the Old Testament in the Song of Solomon. Solomon praised the neck of his beloved by comparing it to “a tower of ivory,” in 7:4. Homer uses a similar term in his Odyssey, discussing the fatuous nature of those who come from an ivory gate. Ivory may suggest one who is naïve, to Homer. On the other hand Solomon’s usage connects to purity and beauty. In the 19th century, French poet, Charles-Augustin Saint Beuve, used the expression to criticize and compare Alfred de Vigny to Victor Hugo. Sai
An ivory tower is used to represent a person aloof, or disengaged from the struggle and strife of the world. It is often applied to intellectuals and college professors, or simply to the extremely naïve, in a negative sense. The basic concept is that a person can theorize about the world all he or she wishes from the protective walls of a college, but that to live in it, without the benefit of an ivory tower, gives one a more realistic sense of how philosophy or art applies. The term is first used in the Old Testament in the Song of Solomon. Solomon praised the neck of his beloved by comparing it to “a tower of ivory,?in 7:4. Homer uses a similar term in his Odyssey, discussing the fatuous nature of those who come from an ivory gate. Ivory may suggest one who is naïve, to Homer. On the other hand Solomon’s usage connects to purity and beauty. In the 19th century, French poet, Charles-Augustin Saint Beuve, used the expression to criticize and compare Alfred de Vigny to Victor Hugo. Sain
