Graves of Academe - Review of Allan Bloom's Closing of American Mind

In This Book, The Author (a Distinguished Political Philosopher) Argues That The Social/political Crisis Of 20th-century America Is Really An Intellectual Crisis Marked By Obvious Declines In Appreciation Of Humanities, A Drop In The Qualitative Output Of Our University Systems, And A Disquieting Disconnect Between Today's Students And The Spiritual And Cultural Traditions Of Their Heritage. Foreword / Saul Bellow -- Students. The Clean Slate -- Books -- Music -- Relationships -- Nihilism, American Style. The German Connection -- Two Revolutions And Two States Of Nature -- The Self -- Creativity -- Culture -- Values -- The Nietzcheanization Of The Left Or Vice Versa -- Our Ignorance -- The University. From Socrates Apology To Heidegger's Rektoratsrede -- The Sixties -- The Student And The University. Allan Bloom. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The Closing of the American Mind, a publishing phenomenon in hardcover, is now a paperback literary event. In this acclaimed number one national best-seller, one of our country's most distinguished political philosophers argues that the social/political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis. Allan Bloom's sweeping analysis is essential to understanding America today. It has fired the imagination of a public ripe for change. - Back cover. A critique of the intellectual and moral confusions of this age argues that the social/political crisis of twentieth-century America is actually an intellectual crisis, and shows how American democracy has hosted ideas of nihilism, despair, and relativism disguised as tolerance "How higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today's students." Part One: Students Part Two: Nihilism, American Style Part Three: The University