The Closing of the American Mind

Alan Bloom's translations of Plato's Republic, and Rousseau's Emily sit on a desk not far from my chair; they are torn and tattered from too much use. I share an odd sense of companionship with both writers that have been with me since my late teens, thanks to Bloom. Books can be like friends, or so Bloom thought in his monumental treatise on American Education, its precursors, and its failures, The Closing of the American Mind.

I have just finished rereading this amazing book after fifteen years of contemplating it. Bloom was the first contemporary writer to reach me, and pull me into the wonders of philosophy. He can be overtly dogmatic and he generalizes too much, but his point is wonderful. Education is about the wonder of life, the philosophical walk, that seeks to always improve, and live to the fullest, yearning for knowledge as the source of the Good life. Part of our education has always been about finding and producing treasure (tech schools and MBA's). But we have forgotten that other more important side that teaches us how to live with that treasure, appreciate it to its fullest, and find other spiritual nourishment through the great writers (Liberal Arts).

Valuing value is Blooms goal, as he treads upon the philosophical waters of Nietzsche and Plato, bringing us face to face with our easy going relativism's. "You're OK, I'm OK. As long as we both agree to be a bit haunted together." Bloom is a cultural relativist, not in the spiritually decadent sense of a Hip Hop rapper, or a Left Wing politician, but in the sense of one who understands the cost of relativism, the price of the abyss, and the joyous wonder of liberation an educated mind can find. Bloom revels in his freedom, illuminating for us our shallow half digested truths, and their German derivations. Relativism and subjectivity are mere steps along the way, corridors of thought open to us, but there are others and we are in danger of forgetting them.

Bloom died in 1992, too early for a great mind who took seriously Socrates quest. Philosophy was not merely a discipline, but a way of life. I highly recommend this book.