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Summary: education & philosophy for the serious minded
Review: Allan Bloom's book is heavy going & requires effort to tackle. The preface and intro are heavy going, and are indicative of what's to come. Here we have a book that requires study & discussion - it is not meant to be a casual read. It is aimed at people interested in the state of education & the role it plays in Western society & specifically the USA. It's main contention is that the halcyon days of academic endeavour are over ; that the university & related institutions are losing the battle for the hearts & minds of the current generation of students. These students are still keen to learn, but they will learn on their own terms. Excluding technical abilities, they will never reach the heights of scholars of days gone by. Much reference is made to philosophy & literature's classic authors, such as Nietzsche & Plato, so a layman unfamiliar with these authors' works will not understand many points made throughout the book. Bloom goes to! great pains to give historical perspective to today's universities & learning culture. Topics include - the role of classic books in modern education, the importance of rock music to students & how history may judge this phenomenon, the relationships of students to each other, to television, to family, to society and to sex. The recurring theme though, through frequent reference to the great works of literature, is that of the importance of education in various societies. Bloom is let down, not in the main thrust of his argument, but in various asides, especially those pertaining to attitudes of students. He is not as hip to their values & thought-processes as perhaps he thinks he is. "These kids just do not have prejudices against anyone" is as out of touch a statement from a professor as you will find anywhere. What student is going to share personal prejudices with his uni professor ? A highlight for me was the analysis of the attempts to fully integ! rate black students into the student community since the 19! 60's. Bloom argues that while most religions & races mix seamlessly in our universities, black students are still emotionally segregated & that there is suspicion about the value of their passing grades. He observes that this is no longer the fault of true, lingering racism from the students, rather a choice made by the political motivations of the black community & lobby groups. "Affirmative action now institutionalises the worst aspects of separatism" At a tangent to direct discussion of educational standards, much time is devoted to attitudes, such as in relation to family & sexual matters, of students and society in general. The changing nature & importance of the family unit is lamented, not necessarily because the old ways & attitudes were better, but because nothing of substance has taken their place. "What substitute is there for the forms of relatedness that are dismantled in the name of the new justice ?" In this context, B! loom has nothing but contempt for the student radicalism of the sixties - the radicals took campuses by force and threat of force and sought to change the role of the university to suit political purposes. The middle third of the book shifts focus from educational issues to philosophical ones. Again, much reference is made great men of the past, in this case, the thinkers responsible for shaping collective Western thought with emphasis on the German influence. And again, if you're not familiar with names like Locke & Rousseau, you're going to struggle here to get the point. In his closing chapter, Bloom takes a serious dig at the way classic texts are now interpreted & studied. The Bible, for example, is no longer a book of revelation, it's merely an example of mythological text from another time, to be examined in terms of its place in history rather than for its intrinsic message. The humanities in general have lost their momentum & focus & will to live in ! the modern university, while the specialist courses and nat! ural sciences rule the roost. We mourn the irony that philosophy & the concept of liberal education founded the university, and is now being evicted by the other tenants. darren robinson powerplay@cheerful.com
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Summary: An out standing critique of the state of the American mind
Review: I have read this book no less than twenty times since 1987. I was deeply amazed at Bloom's ability to use words and concepts to construct a mirror that not only allowed me to view our university system from an insiders view, but more importantly, this mirror allowed me to take a long look at myself. What I found was not always comforting, but it was certianly educational and enlighting. Although I did not know Bloom personally, I believe that he would view his book a success if it accomplised this for one personlike myself. I must say that I do not agree with this book on every point. But I do not believe that agreement is necessarily the most important criteria for evaluation. The whirlwind of reationary response that THE CLOSING OF THE AMERICAN MIND generated goes a long way toward demonstrating the truth of what Bloom had to say--- a closed mind can not handle good and honest critisism, it must lash out and attack the attacker by calling him names (elitist) and attacking his character. I encourage everyone who is concerned about the future to read this book. But I warn all perspective readers to be prepared to call into question a number of things our society holds so dear--- IT IS NOT A BOOK FOR THE FAINT HEARTED--- Which really makes me wonder how it ever became a best seller to begin with.
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Summary: A Monument to Intelligence
Review: Closing is the best book I have ever read by an American author and you probably have to search back to Nietzsche or Voltaire to find a thinker as independent from what is considered "politically correct" in his time. Bloom makes a very compelling case of the fact that equality is plainly a democratic prejudice and not a discovered truth. Tocqueville states that the USA cannot produce a Pascal, however, it did produce an A. Bloom. Closing is, IMHO, a Monument to Intelligence. However, it is not only an "interesting book" or a conversation subject, it has given me hope that there are still some persons (although very few) that vigorously question most of the precepts that we have been forced to accept for what are mainly political reasons. Closing is truly a "breeze of fresh air for those who are tired". Closing is a 10, and it should be read by every intelligent person in the USA.
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Summary: Bloom may know the present, but does he know the past?
Review: The late Professor Bloom doesn't seem to know that the Hit Parade of the 1940s was as inane as the Top 40 of today ("Chatanooga Choo-Choo," anyone?), or that pulp fiction (no pun intended) has always outsold serious literature. He also generalizes college students to a degree that is laughable...I was in collge during the period the book was written, and presumably Mr. Bloom was teaching, and I found college students to come in all shapes and stripes, some appealing to me, some not. He also seemingly ignores the social and cultural changes that have resulted in a very different demographic for college students today than 50 years ago. In short, while he addresses many legitimate concerns, his conclusion are reached without much sifting through evidence, and his conclusions are comic book. He seems to see everyone and everything as one-dimensional and limited except himself. (I'm still baffled by the statement that "About the only thing that concerns students today is space exploration"--written during a time of extreme waning of interest in the space program--"and we all know that space is empty." What is one to make of that? So are the seven seas empty, but they were sure worth journeying through.) What a lonely person this very narrow man must have been--and this is coming from someone who has many of my own serious reservations about the human race!
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Summary: Mr. Bloom is sadly pessimistic about the future of America.
Review: As a teacher and lover of History, and Social Science I do understand the importance and beauty of freedom of press, mind and opinion. Mr. Bloom shows the reader the ugly side of this in this mass of pessimism. If he has intended it to motivate America's youth, he has failed. If he intended it for the reader to enjoy, he failed. In my opinion, and that of many of my colleagues, Allan Bloom is a bitter, hate filled man, with nothing better to do than write a biography of America's downfalls, ignoring all of the advantages that coincide. Shame on you Allan Bloom!
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Summary: Intellectual life in a liberal democracy - a must read....
Review: Professor Bloom, in my opinion, generalizes a bit too much in describing the "modern" American student. One of those myself - a sophomore undergrad at the time of "Closings" publishing - I thought Bloom hit and miss when referring to the "average" American student.
However, he does an unbelievably good job in describing the ills in the "social sciences" and how we have arrived today at a place where graduate students study comic books and MTV is a weighty topic of intellectual speculation and where old masters like Aristotle are almost dissapeared (Does this reflect poorly on Aristotle or on ourselves?). For anyone who wonders at where we went wrong in the twentieth century, Bloom is like a breath of fresh air in the unwholesome swamp of the modern research university. Much of what I felt during years of instruction/indoctrination as a university student is plainly and eloquently laid out by Bloom - he seems to give voice to what was inchoate in my soul on this important issue.
It is not easy reading - even for the well educated. But nothing worth doing was ever easy, and if you want "fun" and "light" you can always open up a comic book again. On the other hand, if you really want to stretch your mind and engage certain "Big Questions" (whether you agree with Bloom or not), then read "The Closing of the American Mind."
It was the most important book I have read in years. Bloom may overstate his case at times, but there is the essential kernel of truth in what he says, in my opinion. Great intoduction also by Saul Bellows.
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Summary: An ironic play on words...
Review: This would have been a better title for an Alan Bloom autobiography.
I feel the best review on this book I can give is a quote from Jello Biafra's "High Priest of Harmful Matter":
"I can think of one mind that was so closed that he didn't bother to peer into it before ranting and raving on paper because he'd been welding it shut all those years."
This book could have easily been written by Tipper Gore or Jesse Jackson or the like. It is written to appeal to people who consider themselves "liberals" (the yuppie crowd) and parroted exactly what groups like the PMRC and the Moral Majority said about rock music in the eighties.
If you believe rock music is the great scapegoat on which to blame all of parents' failures, then this book is for you. For the rest of us, don't be deceived by the title.
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Summary: Bloom dares to suggest that all things are not created equal
Review: A distiction must be made here between a brilliantly written book and a book who's message is important and appealing. I work to keep that distinction in mind, and Closing of the American Mind wins on both counts. Bloom appeals to us to make peace with the notion that good and evil are not the same thing; that all ways of acting and thinking are not made equal by our wishing them so.
He describes his observations among university students and tells us why he believes the growing American love affair with personal freedom and creativity is doomed to failure without its marriage to critical thinking and respect for the thousands of years of thought we tend to consider outdated today. This book touches some nerve which polarizes people strongly. I believe it challenges us to consider changing parts of us that we are used to considering safe, secure and comforting.
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Summary: An excellent,stimulating critique of American (non) thought
Review: Although a few years old, Bloom's _Closing of the American Mind_ is still a tour de force in assessing the state of American thought. Bloom contends that our society suffers from a neurotic open-ness to almost any opinion except the opinion that some positions have (innately) more merit than others. We are intolerant of the concepts of good and value in our thought life and in our spiritual world. Bloom recommends a rerurn (or progression, possibly) to a worldview that is at once more rigorous and ultimately more "open minded" in the truest sense
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Summary: The issue is relativism
Review: Alan Bloom begins his controversial book with this statement, "There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth is relative... [This] is not a theoretical insight but a moral postulate... The students, of course, cannot defend their opinion... [but] to their way of thinking there should be no tolerance for the intolerant." When I read that statement as a student, I was offended. Later (as I got on in years) I realized what he was trying to tell me. As a young and idealistic undergraduate I believed that one must stand up for what is right, be committed, get involved, and act against evil. I also believed that truth and evil are relative. I was being inconsistent and didn't notice it. That, of course, is Bloom's point too and he concludes from it that students are in error in their relativism and calls for an education focusing on Western values that will teach them better. I think I was wrong but I would call for an education that would teach students about valid and invalid judgments. Let's face it: many of the students in our universities are NOT Western and, although it would be good for them (and for us) to learn about Western culture, that is not the only culture out there. We should all, however, learn about valid and invalid judgments; and we should all learn that it's okay to judge. A valid judgment requires that I separate my own personal preferences from what I judge to be unversal standards. That's not an easy thing to do. But it means that I must separate my revulsion from certain foods and customs (say lip piercing) from a woman throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre. The first is my cultural habituation; the second a universal value. Yet when I make those judgments I must do so humbly knowing that they are made by MY standards for I don't really know any others. And for that reason, it would be good for me to learn what those standards are. It would be good for me to learn Western values. And those, I'm afraid, are rarely taught these days. So I agree with Bloom's starting point but the conclusion he draws from it is perhaps not the only one possible.
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