The author opposes the notion of “intellectuals” to that of “intelligentsia” which arises for determining a special stratum of population in the tsarist Russia. This differentiation is performed against the background of specific comprehension of Bacon’s expression “Knowledge is power” based on the conception of the speech act force in contemporary pragmatism. The author describes the historical and cultural peculiarities of intelligentsia and specific features of the social stratum of intellectuals, as well as methods of their interaction with power and society.