The Closing of the American Mind

The Closing of the American Mind is a 1987 bestselling work of social criticism by the philosopher Allan Bloom. The book presents a sweeping critique of the contemporary state of higher education in the United States, arguing that a pervasive cultural relativism and the abandonment of the Great Books tradition have led to a spiritual and intellectual impoverishment of students. Bloom contends that this has resulted in a closed-mindedness that paradoxically masquerades as openness, undermining the pursuit of truth and the foundations of a liberal democracy.

Overview and thesis

Bloom’s central thesis is that American universities have failed in their primary mission of educating students by succumbing to a dogmatic relativism that declares all values equal. He argues this intellectual stance, which he traces to the influence of German thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger as filtered through a uniquely American lens, has created a generation incapable of serious philosophical inquiry. The book asserts that the traditional canon of Western thought, including works by Plato, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke, has been displaced by a focus on diversity and relevance, leaving students without access to the profound questions about human nature and justice. This erosion, Bloom warns, weakens the intellectual foundations necessary for sustaining a free society like the United States.

Historical and intellectual context

The book emerged during the Culture Wars of the 1980s, a period of intense debate over multiculturalism, curriculum reform, and the role of the university. Bloom was a student of the political philosopher Leo Strauss and a professor at the University of Chicago, and his work is deeply informed by the Straussian concern for the fate of classical political philosophy in the modern world. He positions his critique within a long decline he attributes to the reception of European Nihilism and the Counterculture of the 1960s, which he believes corrupted the American understanding of liberty into mere license. The work engages directly with earlier critiques of mass culture, such as those by Alexis de Tocqueville and Friedrich Nietzsche, while responding to contemporary trends in faculties across institutions like Cornell University and Harvard University.

Key arguments and themes

Bloom identifies several interconnected crises: the collapse of a shared intellectual framework, the trivialization of love and relationships through the influence of Sigmund Freud, and the degradation of music, particularly rock and roll, which he sees as a crude and passion-indulgent force. He dedicates significant analysis to the flawed American assimilation of philosophers like Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Max Weber, arguing it produced a shallow historicism. A major theme is the loss of the “Great Conversation” across centuries, replaced by a focus on identity politics and gender studies. Bloom also critiques the university’s transformation from a guardian of timeless questions into a servant of careerism and social justice, a shift he witnessed during his time at Cornell University in the late 1960s.

Reception and critical response

Upon its publication by Simon & Schuster, the book became an unexpected commercial success, spending weeks atop The New York Times Best Seller list and igniting fierce national debate. It was championed by conservative intellectuals like William F. Buckley Jr. and featured prominently in publications like The New York Review of Books. However, many academics and critics offered scathing rebuttals; philosopher Martha Nussbaum criticized its portrayal of the university, while historian Lawrence W. Levine defended the evolving canon. Critics from the left, such as Cornel West, accused Bloom of elitism and a nostalgic yearning for a homogeneous Western culture, often linking his views to those of his mentor, Leo Strauss. The book’s popularity made Bloom a prominent, if controversial, public intellectual.

Influence and legacy

*The Closing of the American Mind* is widely credited with catalyzing the “canon wars” of the late 1980s and 1990s, directly influencing subsequent works like E. D. Hirsch Jr.’s *Cultural Literacy* and Roger Kimball’s *Tenured Radicals*. It provided a foundational text for the conservative critique of academia and bolstered movements advocating for classical education and core curricula at institutions from the University of Chicago to St. John’s College. The book’s arguments continue to echo in contemporary debates over free speech on campus, the teaching of the Great Books, and the influence of theories like postmodernism. While its specific diagnoses remain contentious, its status as a defining document of the late-20th century Culture Wars is secure.

Category:1987 non-fiction books Category:American political books Category:Books about education in the United States Category:Books about higher education Category:Books by Allan Bloom Category:Simon & Schuster books