The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students
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- Author：Allan Bloom
- ISBN：1451683200
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Summary
The brilliant， controversial， bestselling critique of American culture that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” （The New York Times）—now featuring a new afterword by Andrew Ferguson in a twenty-fifth anniversary edition。
THE BRILLIANT AND CONTROVERSIAL CRITIQUE OF AMERICAN CULTURE WITH NEARLY A MILLION COPIES IN PRINT
In 1987， eminent political philosopher Allan Bloom published The Closing of the American Mind， an appraisal of contemporary America that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” （The New York Times） and has not only been vindicated， but has also become more urgent today。 In clear， spirited prose， Bloom argues that the social and political crises of contemporary America are part of a larger intellectual crisis: the result of a dangerous narrowing of curiosity and exploration by the university elites。
Now， in this twenty-fifth anniversary edition， acclaimed author and journalist Andrew Ferguson contributes a new essay that describes why Bloom’s argument caused such a furor at publication and why our culture so deeply resists its truths today。
THE BRILLIANT AND CONTROVERSIAL CRITIQUE OF AMERICAN CULTURE WITH NEARLY A MILLION COPIES IN PRINT
In 1987， eminent political philosopher Allan Bloom published The Closing of the American Mind， an appraisal of contemporary America that “hits with the approximate force and effect of electroshock therapy” （The New York Times） and has not only been vindicated， but has also become more urgent today。 In clear， spirited prose， Bloom argues that the social and political crises of contemporary America are part of a larger intellectual crisis: the result of a dangerous narrowing of curiosity and exploration by the university elites。
Now， in this twenty-fifth anniversary edition， acclaimed author and journalist Andrew Ferguson contributes a new essay that describes why Bloom’s argument caused such a furor at publication and why our culture so deeply resists its truths today。
Reviews
Pater Edmund
，
Bloom is a brilliant critic of American culture and the American university。 He brings something of the light of philosophy to bear on things， but his own philosophical positions end up being disappointing。 He only he would fully embrace the truth seen by Plato and Aristotle， but in the end he seems to think that in certain respects Nietzsche is more right。
烨 武
，
This book is extremely insightful and covers a broad range of subjects。 I appreciate a lot that the author was able to articulate and explain all the subtle subjects clearly。One problem， as usual， is that that conservative values are very much based on a Christian experience， which may appear self involved。
Setaareh
，
A poisonous attempt at explaining some legitimate concerns about contemporary intellectualism。
Rich Castles
，
A unheeded horror story written in 1987。 Stephen King might have called it ‘Madonna’。
Valeriu Gherghel
，
Diatriba lui Allan Bloom a iscat o adevărată „furtună” în mediul academic american。 Cartea s-a publicat în 1987， dar polemica a continuat cu înverșunare mai bine de un deceniu。 Ce a reproșat Bloom pedagogilor？ În primul rînd， neglijarea întrebărilor fundamentale: Ce este adevărul？ Dar binele？ Are viața omului un sens？ Cum ar trebui să ne ducem viața？ În al doilea rînd， neglijarea clasicilor， a Marilor Cărți。 Și tocmai în aceste cărți acoperite de colbul nepăsării poate fi găsit un răspuns。 Din p Diatriba lui Allan Bloom a iscat o adevărată „furtună” în mediul academic american。 Cartea s-a publicat în 1987， dar polemica a continuat cu înverșunare mai bine de un deceniu。 Ce a reproșat Bloom pedagogilor？ În primul rînd， neglijarea întrebărilor fundamentale: Ce este adevărul？ Dar binele？ Are viața omului un sens？ Cum ar trebui să ne ducem viața？ În al doilea rînd， neglijarea clasicilor， a Marilor Cărți。 Și tocmai în aceste cărți acoperite de colbul nepăsării poate fi găsit un răspuns。 Din păcate， lumea （și profesorii） au renunțat la ele。Critica lui Bloom viza， așadar， toate aspectele educației tinerilor。 În fond， ce învățau studenții în anii 80？ Cîteva idei radicale: a） nu există adevăr， adevărul nu poate fi nici definit， nici atins; b） nu există realitate， realitatea e un construct social / cultural / ideologic; c） totul este relativ， opiniile sînt egale， nu există credințe și idei privilegiate。。。Două extrase:1。 Școala deconstrucției constituie „ultima etapă previzibilă în suprimarea rațiunii și negarea posibilității adevărului în numele filosofiei” （p。454）。 2。 „Singura soluție serioasă este aceea aproape universal respinsă: abordarea vechilor și bunelor Cărți Mari， prin care educația liberală înțelege citirea anumitor texte clasice， general recunoscute， doar citirea lor， lăsîndu-le să dicteze care sînt întrebările și metoda de a le aborda – nu forțindu-le în catego // rii pe care le inventăm noi， nu tratîndu-le ca pe niște produse istorice， ci încercînd să le citim așa cum doreau autorii lor să fie citite。 Sînt perfect conștient - și admit de fapt – obiecțiile aduse cultului Marilor Cărți。 E amatorist; încurajează o încredere în sine autodidactă lipsită de competență; nu poți citi atent toate Marile Cărți; dacă citești doar Marile Cărți， nu poți ști ce e o carte mare， în opoziție cu una obișnuită; nu există o modalitate de a determina cine să decidă ce e o Carte Mare sau un canon; cărțile devin scopuri și nu mijloace; întreaga mișcare are un anume ton vulgar evanghelist， opus bunului gust; el generează o falsă intimidate cu măreția…” （pp。410-411）。 。。。more
Charles H Berlemann Jr
，
An interesting book， that I think even applies today with the current environment both on the university campus and out in town。 The author sets up the thesis that with the removal of philosophy and some of the classical learning requirements from education in the 60s; we saw a drastic change in how civilization progressed。 That lead to a larger wave and a speed of the culture wars from the 60s till to the early 80s when the book was written。 The author breaks the book up into three major sectio An interesting book， that I think even applies today with the current environment both on the university campus and out in town。 The author sets up the thesis that with the removal of philosophy and some of the classical learning requirements from education in the 60s; we saw a drastic change in how civilization progressed。 That lead to a larger wave and a speed of the culture wars from the 60s till to the early 80s when the book was written。 The author breaks the book up into three major sections。 The first section he talks about the modern （set in the 1980s） student at the university that seems to be lacking in just understanding how just to be at the university， from the lack of reading and writing abilities to their inability to grasp some other core canon ideas。 The the rest of the section all the whole discussion and breakdown of the various culture wars from music， to reduction of the sexual morals， the rise of segregation at the university。 The rise of segregation at the university was an interesting chapter to read。 Effectively the author lays the blame of this at the more extreme elements of the various social movement powers。 Their wants to have separate but equal spaces all in the an attempt to get their own needs met。 This division has created issues where then the need to have hard discussions between the white and black students， men and women， LGBTQ vs cis， etc， etc， etc。 The division is being ignored because of the friction from these separate spaces are recreating a form of segregation that wasn't seen， by the author at least， since before WW2 in the university system。 That to challenge it leads to charge of bigotry by the students against university leadership。 To the point that as the author notes from an interview with one student， the student has a few black friends but they aren't friends in the traditional sense of social philosophy views since any attempt to intermingle might lead to charges of selling out by some of the more vocal extremists on campus。 The next section he runs through a history of both philosophy and its creation of the university system and how it helped to influence American thoughts， culture， and its own university system。 One of the over-arching themes within this section is how the US system until the arrival of various German philosophers from Hegel to Nietzsche that lead to questions and rise of nihilism。 The author points out that both the socialist wings of Nazism and Communism were active in the destruction of philosophy and education; trying to use the basis of science to and some perversion （as the author saw it） of philosophy to say why humanity evolved and where it was supposed to go。 There was no longer room for philosophical debates about the role of humanity and where it was supposed to go; that was all solved by either of the two socialism thought tracts。 Instead it was about how science and metrics would show us that we were achieving that goal。 We saw the destruction of the roles of where the sciences and philosophy play in education and society。 This portion dragged on me， since he tried to compress almost all of human history of philosophy down to a few chapters and hit who he considered important to creating the philosophical thoughts for education and who ended up destroying it。 The last section the author lays out not just where we are now， short of the issues which were discussed in the first section。 He also shows the real world problems and the history of how we got there from the 1960s college riots and occupations to the capitulations of the leaders of the university system。 As well as trying to layout what could be done to fix the issues。 The author doesn't fully suggest trying to bring back the rigor he went through as a student in the university system。 Rather he also suggests that not all of what made the western canon is useful and deserves to be challenged; but it requires more from our students arriving there to be read to be challenged。 More philosophy at the high school levels， more of the languages， and more exposure to the classics if only to show that the same complaints， kvetching， and issues back even in the days of Plato are common as to today。 This exposure to these classics will make students and humans want to discover what was done before and what did or didn't work。 Attempt to keep us from repeating the same mistakes over and over again。 。。。more
Socrate
，
Relativismul e necesar pentru deschidere; si aceasta este virtutea — singura virtute — pe care s-a straduit s-o imprime intreaga educatie elementara， vreme de mai bine de cincizeci de ani。 Deschiderea — si relativismul care face din ea singura instanta plauzibila in fata diverselor pretentii la adevar si a diverselor feluri de viata si tipuri de fiinte umane — este marea intuitie a vremurilor noastre。
Arline
，
WOW！ What a great read by a great author。
Vanoy
，
I really enjoyed reading the drama involved。
Lashanda
，
A awesome book cover。
Wendy Dykema
，
Shelved it after the second chapter。 Even though it has been reprinted since its original 1980s publishing date， it's not been edited。 It needs to be。 There are some interesting viewpoints in here that most would call racist。 I'm not sure if that's the author's intent， to leave it as such， but it became very difficult to read quite quickly。The irony of me "closing" this book before I finished reading it was not lost on me。 :） Shelved it after the second chapter。 Even though it has been reprinted since its original 1980s publishing date， it's not been edited。 It needs to be。 There are some interesting viewpoints in here that most would call racist。 I'm not sure if that's the author's intent， to leave it as such， but it became very difficult to read quite quickly。The irony of me "closing" this book before I finished reading it was not lost on me。 :） 。。。more
Vicki
，
Magnificent！
Mccune Ratings
，
I enjoyed the book immensely。
Will Spohn
，
A touchstone and guiding light。 Must reread （accidentally deleted from my library but this is my thought now and this was my thinking when I first read it）。 A bolt of lightning straight to the heart and up to the mind。
Geraldine
，
A plausible scenario。
Maida
，
If you like thrills and intrigue， action， and heroes that stop them – this is for you！
Davis Parker
，
The Closing of the American Mind is an absolute intellectual tour-de-force that gives an unrelenting critique of modernity and the present university system。 It is dense， rich， clever， and full of insight that is just as fresh and relevant today as it was 30+ years ago。 I found myself highlighting and underlining almost every page， Bloom's words giving form to the feelings and frustrations I've felt but never had the ability to articulate。 With that said， this is a serious， dense book that requi The Closing of the American Mind is an absolute intellectual tour-de-force that gives an unrelenting critique of modernity and the present university system。 It is dense， rich， clever， and full of insight that is just as fresh and relevant today as it was 30+ years ago。 I found myself highlighting and underlining almost every page， Bloom's words giving form to the feelings and frustrations I've felt but never had the ability to articulate。 With that said， this is a serious， dense book that requires much of the reader in terms of focus and background knowledge。 If you aren't familiar with Nietzsche or Heidegger or Plato， much of the book may go over your head （as it did mine）。 I wouldn't embark on it lightly， but if you are able to finish the journey you will find at your destination a fullness of experience that is rare in modern works。 。。。more
Hoda
，
I couldn't get past the elitism that reeks through the pages of this book。 Yes， the modern day value system is empty， but what exactly is your class supremacy filling into that gap？ Everyday， I am more and more grateful to have Islam-the Quran and Prophetic household-as my guide because what good are values if they are not Godly？ I couldn't get past the elitism that reeks through the pages of this book。 Yes， the modern day value system is empty， but what exactly is your class supremacy filling into that gap？ Everyday， I am more and more grateful to have Islam-the Quran and Prophetic household-as my guide because what good are values if they are not Godly？ 。。。more
Florin Pitea
，
Congratulations to Professor Bloom for persuading me to have a go at reading some Plato， some Xenophon and some Aristophanes。
Tristan
，
Two conservatives I respect （Glenn Loury and Heather Mac Donald） have spoken highly of this book， so I decided to check it out。 I stopped reading shortly after the chapter on music。 Allan Bloom makes some good points about the declining quality of liberal arts education， but he's so prudish it's almost satirical。Below are a couple gems from the music chapter， which made me question whether it's Bloom's mind that is actually the closed one:"[The rock business] has all the moral dignity of drug tr Two conservatives I respect （Glenn Loury and Heather Mac Donald） have spoken highly of this book， so I decided to check it out。 I stopped reading shortly after the chapter on music。 Allan Bloom makes some good points about the declining quality of liberal arts education， but he's so prudish it's almost satirical。Below are a couple gems from the music chapter， which made me question whether it's Bloom's mind that is actually the closed one:"[The rock business] has all the moral dignity of drug trafficking， but it was so totally new and unexpected that nobody thought to control it， and now it is too late。""People of future civilizations will wonder at this [i。e。， the popularity of rock music] and find it as incomprehensible as we do the caste system， witch-burning， harems， cannibalism and gladiatorial combats。"I can't help but think that Bloom just never got to hear the greats， like Springsteen， Seger， Mitchell， Zevon， and the Eagles！ 。。。more
Sam Motes
，
In this work the author from academia makes n impassioned argument of how specialized education focus of of the university system has closed the American mind。 The rapid March away from the liberal education that truly drove to change the individual from the core has closed the minds of American to the examined well lived life。 As a product of that specialized educational system th author warns about I find it Very thought provoking read。 It certainly explains much of my personal drive post coll In this work the author from academia makes n impassioned argument of how specialized education focus of of the university system has closed the American mind。 The rapid March away from the liberal education that truly drove to change the individual from the core has closed the minds of American to the examined well lived life。 As a product of that specialized educational system th author warns about I find it Very thought provoking read。 It certainly explains much of my personal drive post college for self education and drive to build my own liberal education due to an unquenched thirst within me。 。。。more
Brian Griffith
，
Grand old grouch bitches about the opening of American minds to self-critical， multi-perspective awareness。 Parades stupefying hypocrisy to glorify his own ethnic community: "America tells one story: the unbroken， ineluctable progress of freedom and equality。 From it's first settlers and its political foundings on， there has been no dispute that freedom and equality are the essence of justice for us。" Grand old grouch bitches about the opening of American minds to self-critical， multi-perspective awareness。 Parades stupefying hypocrisy to glorify his own ethnic community: "America tells one story: the unbroken， ineluctable progress of freedom and equality。 From it's first settlers and its political foundings on， there has been no dispute that freedom and equality are the essence of justice for us。" 。。。more
Jill Pfuetze Schmidt
，
Kick Ass！ And knocked my socks OFF。 Seems to be written， not only about， but by， a Bona Fide philosopher。 And there are not that many。 Answered so many questions for me。 I did read some of this book in 1987。 But I got a lot more out of it this year。
Anna
，
Interesting read， albeit the parts where he delves deep into various philosophical theories may be a bit esoteric for the average American reader （at least they were for me）。 Perhaps should be required reading because of the conservative viewpoint it offers， which would be an alternative viewpoint for most college students today。
Davis Smith
，
You can find some truly bizarre and head-scratching polemics against this book just about anywhere you look。 Anyone who has actually read it will know that most of these complaints come from exactly the kind of people whose toxic agenda Bloom rails against。 The most odd complaint is that Bloom is essentially a shilling for conservatism。 Again， absolutely no one could make this claim if they actually read Bloom’s words。 The man was a religious skeptic and a homosexual who attacks both political s You can find some truly bizarre and head-scratching polemics against this book just about anywhere you look。 Anyone who has actually read it will know that most of these complaints come from exactly the kind of people whose toxic agenda Bloom rails against。 The most odd complaint is that Bloom is essentially a shilling for conservatism。 Again， absolutely no one could make this claim if they actually read Bloom’s words。 The man was a religious skeptic and a homosexual who attacks both political sides just about equally throughout。 His arguments are directed mainly against the influence of certain philosophical schools on Western culture， which manifest themselves all around。 Now， it is true that Bloom is unnecessarily heavy-handed， especially in the long second part， and you will probably not miss too much if you just read the first and third parts。 It’s unfortunate that the dense style is so unapproachable to the layman because the ideas are just so darned challenging and incendiary。 Though if you are already familiar with basic Western philosophy， I find his particular readings of great minds in the central section quite entertaining and provocative。 I really suspect that it is Bloom's attacks on the negative impact of pure democracy and the concept of “equality” that tick people off the most， and in an age where those two things are practically worshiped in our nation that is to be expected。 But when they are placed above the duty to seek truth and life， the result is destruction and soullessness。 Bloom pinpoints the essential crisis of the American experiment and， far from delivering a nationalistic stump speech， argues that us as Americans have a unique responsibility not found in so much else of the world。 Because we have not guarded the intellectual and societal milieu from which democracy can so easily allow us to slip， we are hovering on the brink of tyranny。 Our educational system has failed our younger generations; our cultural atmosphere is a brew of empty vapors。 There comes a point where we cannot let this go on forever， and the most feasible solution can only be found in a return to a study of the art of being human。 It is the only thing that will enable us to live freely and virtuously within such a nation as ours。 。。。more
J。 Kessel
，
A crock。
Gunner Lee
，
One of the last great intellectual and philosophical works in the American university。 From the 80s he provides an apt description of our move away from the high beauty of the world- conceptions of the good， common purpose， something greater- and replacing it with either deconstruction or the idea of commodification。 May we one day listen to his lesson。
Marnie
，
no❤️
Rachel
，
3。5 starsThis was a re-read for me as I also read it in July/August of 2020。
Jared
，