The closing of the American mind : [how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today's students

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. 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. 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. 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. How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students. The author says, "More than anything else, this book is to be taken as a report from the front. The reader can judge for himself the gravity of our situation. Every age has its problems, and I do not claim that things were wonderful in the past. I am describing our present situation and do not intend any comparison with the past to be used as grounds for congratulations or blaming ourselves but only for the sake of clarifying what counts for us and what is special in our situation." Foreword / Saul Bellow Preface Introduction : Our virtue Part one : Students. The clean slate Books Music Relationships Part two : Nihilism, American style. The German connection Two revolutions and two states of nature The self Creativity Culture Values The Nietzscheanization of the left or vice versa Our ignorance Part three : The university. From Socrates' Apology to Heidegger's Rektoratsrede The sixties The student and the university 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 A discourse on late 20th century American students' mind and soul, and the damage done by the elite universities' turn from the eternal verities as outlined by Socrates-Plato-Aristotle, Shakespeare and Rousseau.