Why the belief that some people are naturally smarter than others is a trap

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Jacques Rancière argues that social hierarchies are built on the false assumption that certain individuals possess superior intellect. By challenging the elite control of knowledge, he reveals how we can dismantle the invisible barriers that keep voices unheard and maintain an unequal distribution of power in our modern society.

Born in 1940 in Algiers, Jacques Rancière emerged as a significant French philosopher, initially studying under Louis Althusser at the École Normale Supérieure. His intellectual trajectory shifted dramatically following the 1968 student and worker uprisings in Paris. Rancière broke with his mentor, rejecting the idea that an intellectual vanguard was necessary to guide the masses. Instead, he posited that individuals are fully capable of grasping their own conditions and achieving self-emancipation without needing an elite class to interpret their reality.

Central to his work is the concept of the distribution of the sensible—the implicit framework that determines who is visible, audible, and capable of speech within a society. Rancière argues that inegalitarian orders rely on a police system, which he defines not as law enforcement, but as the set of conventions and rules that justify the status quo as natural or necessary. This includes mechanisms like the public-private divide or the dismissal of dissent as utopian, both of which serve to silence those excluded from power.

In his 1987 work, The Ignorant Schoolmaster, Rancière draws on the 19th-century theorist Jean-Joseph Jacotot to demonstrate that intellectual equality is a practice rather than a goal. He insists that the perceived gap in mental capacity between groups is a myth, unsupported by evidence. Politics, in his view, is the disruptive act of those excluded—the part without part—asserting their equality. By redrawing the boundaries of what is considered sayable or visible, these acts of dissensus challenge the established order and open space for genuine political change.

Rancière also bridges the gap between aesthetics and politics, suggesting that artistic regimes reflect the broader social hierarchies of their time. Whether through the ethical regime of Plato or the representational regime of Aristotle, art has historically served to reinforce or define social roles. By interrogating these structures, Rancière invites us to reconsider how we perceive the capabilities of others and the very nature of democratic participation.

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