UNDER COVER
Closing of the American Mind opens some eyes
Is America a shining beacon of
freedom and justice, a land of shallow
lowbrows with no appreciation of
culture, or the result of centuries of
politcal liberalization in it's classic
sense? Allan Bloom, a Professor of
Social Philosophy at the University of
Chicago, attempts to answer these
questions in his recently published
book, The Closing of the American
Mind, which reached the bestseller lists
this summer.
Bloom's message is that the
political and social thought that helped
form the idea of the United States also
resulted in America's lack of a
"contemplative lilc." This, in turn,
caused the emasculation of both serious
thought and higher education. To cure
this, Bloom advocates a change in the
substance of modem education.
This book is not just another plea
for a return to some ill-defined
"traditional values." Bloom is an
excellent analyst of historical and
intellectual development who shows
how these matters ultimately affect the
daily lives of all. Refusing to speak
the diluted language of those who arc
woefully undcrcquipped to grasp
principles. Bloom quaintly refers to die
human animal as man and not person
Bloom s first target is relativism.
The affinity for the moral gray, instead
of the black and white, has long been
thought necessary for freedom and
democracy. This milquetoast lack of
judgment ultimately causes the
inability to see freedom and liberal
democracy as morally right, and thus,
defensible. Soon, the way was paved
for those whose political views have no
affinity for reason. Bloom supports
this contention with the significant
observation that students ore, in effect,
indoctrinated with relativism.
To Bloom, all recent intellectual
life is embodied in universities. In fact,
themost entertaining parts of the book
are his descriptions of current university
students and their follies. The images
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Bloom offers of universities
delightfully exaggerate the
pervasiveness of sex, drugs, and rock n'
roll. But, like most caricatures, his
description is not far from the truth.
Bloom demonstrates that the foremost
thought of students is not the threat of
nuclear war.
One annoying aspect of the book
is Bloom's disdain toward fields of
study other than those in the social
sciences and humanities. He calls
graduates in such fields as business "Hal
specialists." Whether Bloom's
opinions in this area reveal an
intellectual's indifference toward die idea
of productive work, or the professor's
loyalty to his department, is not clear.
In any ease. Bloom's disdain of the
production process is certainly no worse
than, for example, a sociologist's
well-intentioned but comical attempt to
study those who actually work for a
living.
For the most part, however,
Bloom's criticisms of universities arc
right on the mark. The "general
requirements" idea is viewed as
incoherent and undisciplined. Bloom
knows that this leads students to treat
these requirements with contempt and
to iry to get them out of the way as
painlessly as possible. Core
requirements are seen as an oostacic to
be surmounted in order to begin the
professional, career-specific phase of
education. These requirements were
created in the aftermath of the sixties,
which according to Bloom, was a time
of self-destructive metamorphasis for
American universities. Bloom also
contends that the fifties, in contrast to
popular belief, were "one of the great
periods of the American university" in
terms of scholarship and truly
independent thought.
Bloom exposes the university as
both the cause and mirror-image of
America's intellectual decline, and he
has some clear ideas on how to turn
things around. According to Bloom,
the universities should not concern
themselves with providing experiences
that students can already get in society,
such as vocational training. In short,
universities should teach philosophy
and the classics. Bloom wants the
universities to protect the philosophers
from the burden of having to cut it in
the materialistic, cutthroat world of
bourgcoisc liberal democracy.
Philosophy needs the university to
survive, and the university needs
philosophy's help to become something
more than a giant job training center.
Bloom prescribes a "great books"
approach, where students woulu read a
series of generally recognized classics.
In turn, the university will be a place
where students can look forward 10
more than a chance to go to a
professional school, dress outrageously,
and attend rock concerts and ballgames.
If we do not relearn the classics
and their messages, we will soon have
them interpreted for us second-hand by
those who wish to dilute or distort
them in order to mold our minds. This
•s the message of Bloom's book, and
reading it will point the way to a
classical education. If you read
anything other than Cliffs Notes or
Footnotes, and the highlighted portions
of your used texts this term, read The
Closing of the American Mind. ©