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With respect to the intellectuals in the Middle Ages, Le Goff applied an intellectual-sociological analysis, and his method is still valid. In my view, however, it failed to catch the realistic aspects of the intellectuals. This paper aims to grasp both the concrete reality and the dynamism of the intellectuals in the 12th Century. To do this, I chose Peter Abelard, a representative scholar of this century. Abelard developed a new self-awareness regarding intellectuals. He defined the intellectual as one who seeks knowledge and teaches it. It was very different from the view of monastic scholars, who regarded the process of searching for knowledge as opus dei. According to Abelard, the main function of the intellectual is to search for a reasonable basis to explain the order of things and find the truth. Thus Abelard applied his critical and analytical approach to theology as well as philosophy. His method could be summed up in three parts; doubt, investigation, and the search for truth. Furthermore Abelard did not accept any knowledge without a rational ground or validation as true. Abelard was also an intellectual worrier armed with dialectic, and criticized false intellectual tradition. He extended his academic concerns into theology. This caused serious opposition from his rivals including the disciples of St. Anselm of Laon, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. His intellectual greatness, however, derived not from his attack on the contemporary academic traditions, but from searching for new methods and applying them. His own understanding of the function of the intellectual, his belief in concordance between reason and revelation, and his critical attitude toward the pseudo-intellectual tradition of the time contributed to the subsequent development of scholasticism. In sum, we find a combative, but productive scholar in Peter Abelard.