Also, in attempt to be more objective about this divide, I've found it useful to note that there's a general tendency in intellectuals to be in one camp or the

Also, in attempt to be more objective about this divide, I've found it useful to note that there's a general tendency in intellectuals to be in one camp or the other: unifier or multiplier. I've seen this issue taken up by William James, talking about 'rationalists and empiricists' and by Freeman Dyson in an essay about 'Manchester and Athens'. At the highest heights of intellectual accomplishment, you find people who revel in particulars, and others who love only principles, each typically having an amount of disdain for the other approach. Both are necessary, though.