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A review by wwatts1734
The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom
4.0
Does it ever seem as though, even though the volume of discourse has increased because the media, the quality of that discourse has gone way down in the last 50 years? Professor Allan Bloom, a philosopher from University of Chicago, has written this excellent analysis about how the lack of substantial philosophical education in colleges and universities since the 1960s has produced an American public who are illiterate in the concepts of virtue, ethics and other philosophical topics with which all educated people would have been familiar 100 years ago.
So what has replaced the education in metaphysics and ethics? Bloom explains to us that education has shifted from what uplifts the human heart to what uplifts the human ego. He shows us how students no longer pursue beauty and look only to be stimulated. Students want their self-esteem to be built up at the expense of their knowledge of human nature. Social conscience gives way to narcissism and the search for the profound gives way to the search for whatever skills can earn a buck for the student after graduation.
This work was written in the 1980s, but it seems that Professor Bloom's thesis is even more appropriate today than it was in the 1980s. Ask most college students today if they would consider majoring in literature or philosophy and they will look at you incredulously. How can I make a living at that? Why should I listed to Bach's Cantadas when alternative rock will make my heart pound and my hormones rage? Why should I consider the beauty of a Mona Lisa when pornography will be so much more stimulating? Ultimately those of us whose college education should elevate the intellect are drawn into the abyss of materialism, pop culture, narcissism and depression.
The book is a bit depressing but I find that Professor Bloom's thesis is worth reading. How can we get back to a college education that uplifts and edifies? To find out, please edify yourself by reading this book.
So what has replaced the education in metaphysics and ethics? Bloom explains to us that education has shifted from what uplifts the human heart to what uplifts the human ego. He shows us how students no longer pursue beauty and look only to be stimulated. Students want their self-esteem to be built up at the expense of their knowledge of human nature. Social conscience gives way to narcissism and the search for the profound gives way to the search for whatever skills can earn a buck for the student after graduation.
This work was written in the 1980s, but it seems that Professor Bloom's thesis is even more appropriate today than it was in the 1980s. Ask most college students today if they would consider majoring in literature or philosophy and they will look at you incredulously. How can I make a living at that? Why should I listed to Bach's Cantadas when alternative rock will make my heart pound and my hormones rage? Why should I consider the beauty of a Mona Lisa when pornography will be so much more stimulating? Ultimately those of us whose college education should elevate the intellect are drawn into the abyss of materialism, pop culture, narcissism and depression.
The book is a bit depressing but I find that Professor Bloom's thesis is worth reading. How can we get back to a college education that uplifts and edifies? To find out, please edify yourself by reading this book.