Quote Originally Posted by misa.j
I think plumbers or carpenters can be intellectual, since they have to know what they are doing.
I guess that anybody who has a job knows what the are doing, or they would be fired or lose customers. "Intellectual" means someone interested in academic subjects, like history, psychology, medicine, law, (theoretical) sciences, etc. It usually involved to be cultivated (i.e. being refined and well-educated, especially regaring the fine arts, history, geography, politics, etc.)

There is a plumber who is also a judge in my town.
Doesn't a judge need to be a specialised LLM (Master of Laws) in the US ? Well in Europe I think it's impossible for anybody who hasn't graduated in law to become a judge, and unlikely for someone who has not studied plumbery to become a plumber.

I've heard that in Norway, to become a house painter you would need a University degree.
Maybe not "university" but higher education diploma. And it is normal in most of North-Western Europe. I heard that in Spain anybody could become a real-estate agent without qualifications, while in France, the Benelux, etc. that is impossible. Even to own a restaurant or a hotel, people need to graduate in catering (3 years, I think) in most Western European countries. And even with a further education degree, these people are not called "intellectuals" (except if they are, but then are unlikely to choose this kind of orientation).

Exactly.
Like great artists can be poor but have the deepest knowlege and skills that is earned by their intellect.
I wouldn't consider most artists (except some writers) to be intellectuals, not matter how good they are at their art. But that's just my opinion. Intellectualism requires reasoning (left-brain), while artists need creativity(right-brain). Of course, it is possible to be both an artist and an intellectual. But one does not usually include the other.