The Closing of the American Mind

The Closing of the American Mind, by Allan Bloom (published 1987), describes "how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today's students."

The book's lengthy introduction delineates two kinds of "openness". Bloom criticizes the openness of cultural relativism, in which he claims:

"the point is not to correct the mistakes and really be right; rather it is not to think you are right at all."

Contemporary critical reaction to the book was politically polarised, but many of those hostile to Bloom's conclusions acknowledged the value of the book's account of the history of political philosophy.

Links:

• favorable review in three parts
• lukewarm review