The article interprets intellectualism as a philosophical position that gives reason and knowledge the leading place in the human comprehension of being, and traces its formation, its conceptual structure and its present-day meaning. The problem is posed in a situation where cognition suffers from the excess of information rather than its scarcity, so that what matters philosophically is not how much a person knows but how knowledge is appropriated, examined and used. The study draws on the primary texts of Plato, Aristotle, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Descartes, Leibniz, Kant and Popper, using historical-philosophical reconstruction, comparative analysis, conceptual delimitation and hermeneutic interpretation. It is established that intellectualism is not erudition: it consists in the conscious assimilation of knowledge, the demand for grounds, critical examination and readiness to revise conclusions.