The Closing of the American Mind by {author}: summary and why it matters

What it argues

Bloom, a University of Chicago philosopher and student of Leo Strauss, began from an observation about undergraduates: nearly all of them assume that truth is relative, and they regard this as a mark of tolerance and openness. He argued that this belief, far from being a sign of open-mindedness, closes the mind, since it removes the motive to look for answers to the great questions.

He traced the sources of the attitude to German thinkers, especially Nietzsche and Heidegger, whose ideas were absorbed in America in a diluted form by way of the social sciences, psychology and the sixties. He had sharp words for rock music, which he said fed the passions of the young, and for the weakening of the family and of the old reading.

The book recommends a return to the study of the great books, so that students would meet the questions with serious seriousness.

Why it matters

Few expected a dense philosophical work to become a bestseller. It framed the culture wars over the curriculum and has been cited by every later critic of campus life. Critics from the left found it elitist, and some conservatives found it too in love with the university.

About the author

Allan Bloom (1930-1992) taught at Cornell, the University of Toronto and the University of Chicago, and translated Plato's Republic and Rousseau's Emile. The book grew out of an essay and was published when he was in his fifties. The novelist Saul Bellow, a friend, wrote the foreword, and later based the novel Ravelstein on Bloom.

Who should read it

Teachers, students and parents who want a deeper account of higher education's troubles.