Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind

The Quote

"Universities came to be where men were inspired by the philosophers' teachings and examples. Philosophy and its demonstration of the rational contemplative life, made possible and, more or less consciously, animated scholarship and the individual sciences. When those examples lost their vitality or were overwhelmed by men who had no experience of them, the universities decayed or were destroyed. This, strictly, is barbarism and darkness." — Allan Bloom, "The Closing of the American Mind" (1987)

About the Author

Allan Bloom (1930-1992) was an American philosopher, classicist, and academic who gained prominence with his critique of contemporary higher education in "The Closing of the American Mind." The book became a surprise bestseller and sparked national debate about the purpose of universities. Bloom, a student of Leo Strauss, argued that American universities had abandoned their mission to challenge students with enduring questions and classic texts in favor of moral relativism and trendy intellectual fashions.

This quote powerfully encapsulates Bloom's concern that universities were drifting from their philosophical foundations.

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