Tag: Democracy

Topics

Books

The Failure of the University

– "The Failure of the University," Daedalus, Vol. 103, No. 4, American Education: Toward an Uncertain Future, Volume I (Fall, 1974), pp. 58-66.
Excerpt: Tocqueville, democracy’s great friend and admirer, reminds us in this passage of the Platonic tripartite division of the soul?desire, spiritedness, and reason. Accord ing to… More

Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy

– "Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy," review of A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 69, No. 2 (June 1975), pp. 648-662.
Excerpt: John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice has attracted more attention in the Anglo-Saxon world than any work of its kind in a generation. Its vogue results from two facts: It is the… More

The Education of Democratic Man: Emile

– "The Education of Democratic Man: Emile," Daedalus, Vol. 107, No. 3, Rousseau for Our Time (Summer 1978), pp. 135-153.
Excerpt: Thus Emile is one of those rare total or synoptic books, a book with which one can live and which becomes deeper as one becomes deeper, a book comparable to Plato’s Republic,… More

Rousseau’s Emile

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile: or On Education, translated with notes and an introduction by Allan Bloom, Basic Books, 1979.
Excerpt: Here then we have Rousseau’s response to Plato. Plato said that all men always begin by being prisoners in the cave. The cave is civil society considered in its effect on the… More

Our Listless Universities

– "Our Listless Universities," Change, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Apr. 1983), pp. 29-35.
Excerpt: I begin with my conclusion: students in our best universities do not believe in anything, and those universities are do-ing nothing about it, nor can they. An easy-going American… More

Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals

– "Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals," New Criterion, September 1985.
Excerpt: A few weeks ago, when I was in Paris, I went to have lunch at my friend Jean-Claude Casanova’s home. As I entered the great doors of the building on the Boulevard St. Michel, I… More

The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education

– The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education: Collected Essays, 1986.
Excerpt: Therefore a truly political judgment is maintained so long as the issues are matters of life and death. Policy orientation helps keep the focus which we are too likely to lose. It… More

The Open Mind

– Interview with Allan Bloom, The Open Mind, PBS, 7 June 1987.
Watch The Closing of the American Mind on PBS. See more from The Open Mind.

The Closing of the American Mind

– The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, with a foreword by Saul Bellow, Simon & Schuster, 1987.  Reprint, Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Excerpt: I used to think that young Americans began whatever education they were to get at the age of eighteen, that their early lives were spiritually empty and that they arrived at the… More

How Nietzsche Conquered America

– "How Nietzsche Conquered America," The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1987), pp. 80-93.
Excerpt: Modern democracy was, of course, the target of Nietzsche’s criticism.A s he saw it, rationalisma nd its egalitarianismw ere the contrary of creativity; daily life was for him… More

The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society

– "The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society: The Socratic View," The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Socratic Dialogues, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., Cornell University Press, 1987.

Giants and Dwarfs

– Giants and Dwarfs: Essays, 1960-1990, Simon and Schuster, 1990.
Excerpt: And we may further suppose that Gulliver has certain hidden thoughts and intentions which are only to be revealed by closely cross-examining him. He indicates this himself at the… More

The Legacy of Allan Bloom

– "The Legacy of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with Werner Dannhauser, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Joseph Bottum and MaryAnn McGrail, hosted by the Hudson Institute, C-SPAN, 18 May 2000.
Panel members discussed author Saul Bellow’s novel Ravelstein, a fictionalized account of the author’s friendship with professor of political philosophy Allan Bloom, best-selling author… More

The Historical Context of Allan Bloom

– "The Historical Context of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with James Ceaser, James Miller, John Tomasi and John McWhorter, hosted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, C-SPAN, 3 October 2007.

Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind

– Nathan Tarcov, "Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind," The Good Society, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2008), pp. 84-85.
Excerpt: The second point I would like to make is that although Bloom directed withering criticism against the current academic trends that denied the possibility of learning from the… More

Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later

– "Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later: The Continuing Failure of Higher Education?," panel discussion with Nathan Tarcov, Bill Kristol, Hillel Fradkin, Janet Dougherty, moderated by John Walters, hosted by the Hudson Institute, Washington, DC, 15 June 2012.
Twenty-five years ago, Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students offered a… More

Conference on the 25th Anniversary of The Closing of the American Mind

– Conference on the 25th anniversary of Allan Bloom's bestseller The Closing of the American Mind, hosted by the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 21 Sept. 2012. The first panel is on Students and is chaired by Arthur Melzer, with Kathryn Sensen, James Hankins, and Paul Cantor as speakers. The second panel is on the University and is chaired by R. Shep Melnick, with Nannerl Keohane, Rita Koganzon, and James Piereson. The third panel is chaired by William Kristol and features Margaret Soltan, Michael Davis and Nasser Behnegar as speakers.  
   

Full Bloom

– Algis Valiunas, Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2015.
Excerpt: Yet is one right to believe that Bloom represented political philosophy at its highest reach, and that he spoke for the best life possible? During the season of Bloom’s… More

Essays

The Failure of the University

– "The Failure of the University," Daedalus, Vol. 103, No. 4, American Education: Toward an Uncertain Future, Volume I (Fall, 1974), pp. 58-66.
Excerpt: Tocqueville, democracy’s great friend and admirer, reminds us in this passage of the Platonic tripartite division of the soul?desire, spiritedness, and reason. Accord ing to… More

Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy

– "Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy," review of A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 69, No. 2 (June 1975), pp. 648-662.
Excerpt: John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice has attracted more attention in the Anglo-Saxon world than any work of its kind in a generation. Its vogue results from two facts: It is the… More

The Education of Democratic Man: Emile

– "The Education of Democratic Man: Emile," Daedalus, Vol. 107, No. 3, Rousseau for Our Time (Summer 1978), pp. 135-153.
Excerpt: Thus Emile is one of those rare total or synoptic books, a book with which one can live and which becomes deeper as one becomes deeper, a book comparable to Plato’s Republic,… More

Rousseau’s Emile

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile: or On Education, translated with notes and an introduction by Allan Bloom, Basic Books, 1979.
Excerpt: Here then we have Rousseau’s response to Plato. Plato said that all men always begin by being prisoners in the cave. The cave is civil society considered in its effect on the… More

Our Listless Universities

– "Our Listless Universities," Change, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Apr. 1983), pp. 29-35.
Excerpt: I begin with my conclusion: students in our best universities do not believe in anything, and those universities are do-ing nothing about it, nor can they. An easy-going American… More

Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals

– "Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals," New Criterion, September 1985.
Excerpt: A few weeks ago, when I was in Paris, I went to have lunch at my friend Jean-Claude Casanova’s home. As I entered the great doors of the building on the Boulevard St. Michel, I… More

The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education

– The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education: Collected Essays, 1986.
Excerpt: Therefore a truly political judgment is maintained so long as the issues are matters of life and death. Policy orientation helps keep the focus which we are too likely to lose. It… More

The Open Mind

– Interview with Allan Bloom, The Open Mind, PBS, 7 June 1987.
Watch The Closing of the American Mind on PBS. See more from The Open Mind.

The Closing of the American Mind

– The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, with a foreword by Saul Bellow, Simon & Schuster, 1987.  Reprint, Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Excerpt: I used to think that young Americans began whatever education they were to get at the age of eighteen, that their early lives were spiritually empty and that they arrived at the… More

How Nietzsche Conquered America

– "How Nietzsche Conquered America," The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1987), pp. 80-93.
Excerpt: Modern democracy was, of course, the target of Nietzsche’s criticism.A s he saw it, rationalisma nd its egalitarianismw ere the contrary of creativity; daily life was for him… More

The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society

– "The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society: The Socratic View," The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Socratic Dialogues, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., Cornell University Press, 1987.

Giants and Dwarfs

– Giants and Dwarfs: Essays, 1960-1990, Simon and Schuster, 1990.
Excerpt: And we may further suppose that Gulliver has certain hidden thoughts and intentions which are only to be revealed by closely cross-examining him. He indicates this himself at the… More

The Legacy of Allan Bloom

– "The Legacy of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with Werner Dannhauser, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Joseph Bottum and MaryAnn McGrail, hosted by the Hudson Institute, C-SPAN, 18 May 2000.
Panel members discussed author Saul Bellow’s novel Ravelstein, a fictionalized account of the author’s friendship with professor of political philosophy Allan Bloom, best-selling author… More

The Historical Context of Allan Bloom

– "The Historical Context of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with James Ceaser, James Miller, John Tomasi and John McWhorter, hosted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, C-SPAN, 3 October 2007.

Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind

– Nathan Tarcov, "Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind," The Good Society, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2008), pp. 84-85.
Excerpt: The second point I would like to make is that although Bloom directed withering criticism against the current academic trends that denied the possibility of learning from the… More

Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later

– "Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later: The Continuing Failure of Higher Education?," panel discussion with Nathan Tarcov, Bill Kristol, Hillel Fradkin, Janet Dougherty, moderated by John Walters, hosted by the Hudson Institute, Washington, DC, 15 June 2012.
Twenty-five years ago, Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students offered a… More

Conference on the 25th Anniversary of The Closing of the American Mind

– Conference on the 25th anniversary of Allan Bloom's bestseller The Closing of the American Mind, hosted by the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 21 Sept. 2012. The first panel is on Students and is chaired by Arthur Melzer, with Kathryn Sensen, James Hankins, and Paul Cantor as speakers. The second panel is on the University and is chaired by R. Shep Melnick, with Nannerl Keohane, Rita Koganzon, and James Piereson. The third panel is chaired by William Kristol and features Margaret Soltan, Michael Davis and Nasser Behnegar as speakers.  
   

Full Bloom

– Algis Valiunas, Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2015.
Excerpt: Yet is one right to believe that Bloom represented political philosophy at its highest reach, and that he spoke for the best life possible? During the season of Bloom’s… More

Commentary

The Failure of the University

– "The Failure of the University," Daedalus, Vol. 103, No. 4, American Education: Toward an Uncertain Future, Volume I (Fall, 1974), pp. 58-66.
Excerpt: Tocqueville, democracy’s great friend and admirer, reminds us in this passage of the Platonic tripartite division of the soul?desire, spiritedness, and reason. Accord ing to… More

Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy

– "Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy," review of A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 69, No. 2 (June 1975), pp. 648-662.
Excerpt: John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice has attracted more attention in the Anglo-Saxon world than any work of its kind in a generation. Its vogue results from two facts: It is the… More

The Education of Democratic Man: Emile

– "The Education of Democratic Man: Emile," Daedalus, Vol. 107, No. 3, Rousseau for Our Time (Summer 1978), pp. 135-153.
Excerpt: Thus Emile is one of those rare total or synoptic books, a book with which one can live and which becomes deeper as one becomes deeper, a book comparable to Plato’s Republic,… More

Rousseau’s Emile

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile: or On Education, translated with notes and an introduction by Allan Bloom, Basic Books, 1979.
Excerpt: Here then we have Rousseau’s response to Plato. Plato said that all men always begin by being prisoners in the cave. The cave is civil society considered in its effect on the… More

Our Listless Universities

– "Our Listless Universities," Change, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Apr. 1983), pp. 29-35.
Excerpt: I begin with my conclusion: students in our best universities do not believe in anything, and those universities are do-ing nothing about it, nor can they. An easy-going American… More

Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals

– "Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals," New Criterion, September 1985.
Excerpt: A few weeks ago, when I was in Paris, I went to have lunch at my friend Jean-Claude Casanova’s home. As I entered the great doors of the building on the Boulevard St. Michel, I… More

The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education

– The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education: Collected Essays, 1986.
Excerpt: Therefore a truly political judgment is maintained so long as the issues are matters of life and death. Policy orientation helps keep the focus which we are too likely to lose. It… More

The Open Mind

– Interview with Allan Bloom, The Open Mind, PBS, 7 June 1987.
Watch The Closing of the American Mind on PBS. See more from The Open Mind.

The Closing of the American Mind

– The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, with a foreword by Saul Bellow, Simon & Schuster, 1987.  Reprint, Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Excerpt: I used to think that young Americans began whatever education they were to get at the age of eighteen, that their early lives were spiritually empty and that they arrived at the… More

How Nietzsche Conquered America

– "How Nietzsche Conquered America," The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1987), pp. 80-93.
Excerpt: Modern democracy was, of course, the target of Nietzsche’s criticism.A s he saw it, rationalisma nd its egalitarianismw ere the contrary of creativity; daily life was for him… More

The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society

– "The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society: The Socratic View," The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Socratic Dialogues, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., Cornell University Press, 1987.

Giants and Dwarfs

– Giants and Dwarfs: Essays, 1960-1990, Simon and Schuster, 1990.
Excerpt: And we may further suppose that Gulliver has certain hidden thoughts and intentions which are only to be revealed by closely cross-examining him. He indicates this himself at the… More

The Legacy of Allan Bloom

– "The Legacy of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with Werner Dannhauser, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Joseph Bottum and MaryAnn McGrail, hosted by the Hudson Institute, C-SPAN, 18 May 2000.
Panel members discussed author Saul Bellow’s novel Ravelstein, a fictionalized account of the author’s friendship with professor of political philosophy Allan Bloom, best-selling author… More

The Historical Context of Allan Bloom

– "The Historical Context of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with James Ceaser, James Miller, John Tomasi and John McWhorter, hosted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, C-SPAN, 3 October 2007.

Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind

– Nathan Tarcov, "Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind," The Good Society, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2008), pp. 84-85.
Excerpt: The second point I would like to make is that although Bloom directed withering criticism against the current academic trends that denied the possibility of learning from the… More

Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later

– "Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later: The Continuing Failure of Higher Education?," panel discussion with Nathan Tarcov, Bill Kristol, Hillel Fradkin, Janet Dougherty, moderated by John Walters, hosted by the Hudson Institute, Washington, DC, 15 June 2012.
Twenty-five years ago, Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students offered a… More

Conference on the 25th Anniversary of The Closing of the American Mind

– Conference on the 25th anniversary of Allan Bloom's bestseller The Closing of the American Mind, hosted by the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 21 Sept. 2012. The first panel is on Students and is chaired by Arthur Melzer, with Kathryn Sensen, James Hankins, and Paul Cantor as speakers. The second panel is on the University and is chaired by R. Shep Melnick, with Nannerl Keohane, Rita Koganzon, and James Piereson. The third panel is chaired by William Kristol and features Margaret Soltan, Michael Davis and Nasser Behnegar as speakers.  
   

Full Bloom

– Algis Valiunas, Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2015.
Excerpt: Yet is one right to believe that Bloom represented political philosophy at its highest reach, and that he spoke for the best life possible? During the season of Bloom’s… More

Multimedia

The Failure of the University

– "The Failure of the University," Daedalus, Vol. 103, No. 4, American Education: Toward an Uncertain Future, Volume I (Fall, 1974), pp. 58-66.
Excerpt: Tocqueville, democracy’s great friend and admirer, reminds us in this passage of the Platonic tripartite division of the soul?desire, spiritedness, and reason. Accord ing to… More

Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy

– "Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy," review of A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 69, No. 2 (June 1975), pp. 648-662.
Excerpt: John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice has attracted more attention in the Anglo-Saxon world than any work of its kind in a generation. Its vogue results from two facts: It is the… More

The Education of Democratic Man: Emile

– "The Education of Democratic Man: Emile," Daedalus, Vol. 107, No. 3, Rousseau for Our Time (Summer 1978), pp. 135-153.
Excerpt: Thus Emile is one of those rare total or synoptic books, a book with which one can live and which becomes deeper as one becomes deeper, a book comparable to Plato’s Republic,… More

Rousseau’s Emile

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile: or On Education, translated with notes and an introduction by Allan Bloom, Basic Books, 1979.
Excerpt: Here then we have Rousseau’s response to Plato. Plato said that all men always begin by being prisoners in the cave. The cave is civil society considered in its effect on the… More

Our Listless Universities

– "Our Listless Universities," Change, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Apr. 1983), pp. 29-35.
Excerpt: I begin with my conclusion: students in our best universities do not believe in anything, and those universities are do-ing nothing about it, nor can they. An easy-going American… More

Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals

– "Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals," New Criterion, September 1985.
Excerpt: A few weeks ago, when I was in Paris, I went to have lunch at my friend Jean-Claude Casanova’s home. As I entered the great doors of the building on the Boulevard St. Michel, I… More

The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education

– The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education: Collected Essays, 1986.
Excerpt: Therefore a truly political judgment is maintained so long as the issues are matters of life and death. Policy orientation helps keep the focus which we are too likely to lose. It… More

The Open Mind

– Interview with Allan Bloom, The Open Mind, PBS, 7 June 1987.
Watch The Closing of the American Mind on PBS. See more from The Open Mind.

The Closing of the American Mind

– The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, with a foreword by Saul Bellow, Simon & Schuster, 1987.  Reprint, Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Excerpt: I used to think that young Americans began whatever education they were to get at the age of eighteen, that their early lives were spiritually empty and that they arrived at the… More

How Nietzsche Conquered America

– "How Nietzsche Conquered America," The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1987), pp. 80-93.
Excerpt: Modern democracy was, of course, the target of Nietzsche’s criticism.A s he saw it, rationalisma nd its egalitarianismw ere the contrary of creativity; daily life was for him… More

The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society

– "The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society: The Socratic View," The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Socratic Dialogues, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., Cornell University Press, 1987.

Giants and Dwarfs

– Giants and Dwarfs: Essays, 1960-1990, Simon and Schuster, 1990.
Excerpt: And we may further suppose that Gulliver has certain hidden thoughts and intentions which are only to be revealed by closely cross-examining him. He indicates this himself at the… More

The Legacy of Allan Bloom

– "The Legacy of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with Werner Dannhauser, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Joseph Bottum and MaryAnn McGrail, hosted by the Hudson Institute, C-SPAN, 18 May 2000.
Panel members discussed author Saul Bellow’s novel Ravelstein, a fictionalized account of the author’s friendship with professor of political philosophy Allan Bloom, best-selling author… More

The Historical Context of Allan Bloom

– "The Historical Context of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with James Ceaser, James Miller, John Tomasi and John McWhorter, hosted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, C-SPAN, 3 October 2007.

Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind

– Nathan Tarcov, "Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind," The Good Society, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2008), pp. 84-85.
Excerpt: The second point I would like to make is that although Bloom directed withering criticism against the current academic trends that denied the possibility of learning from the… More

Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later

– "Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later: The Continuing Failure of Higher Education?," panel discussion with Nathan Tarcov, Bill Kristol, Hillel Fradkin, Janet Dougherty, moderated by John Walters, hosted by the Hudson Institute, Washington, DC, 15 June 2012.
Twenty-five years ago, Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students offered a… More

Conference on the 25th Anniversary of The Closing of the American Mind

– Conference on the 25th anniversary of Allan Bloom's bestseller The Closing of the American Mind, hosted by the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 21 Sept. 2012. The first panel is on Students and is chaired by Arthur Melzer, with Kathryn Sensen, James Hankins, and Paul Cantor as speakers. The second panel is on the University and is chaired by R. Shep Melnick, with Nannerl Keohane, Rita Koganzon, and James Piereson. The third panel is chaired by William Kristol and features Margaret Soltan, Michael Davis and Nasser Behnegar as speakers.  
   

Full Bloom

– Algis Valiunas, Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2015.
Excerpt: Yet is one right to believe that Bloom represented political philosophy at its highest reach, and that he spoke for the best life possible? During the season of Bloom’s… More

Teaching

The Failure of the University

– "The Failure of the University," Daedalus, Vol. 103, No. 4, American Education: Toward an Uncertain Future, Volume I (Fall, 1974), pp. 58-66.
Excerpt: Tocqueville, democracy’s great friend and admirer, reminds us in this passage of the Platonic tripartite division of the soul?desire, spiritedness, and reason. Accord ing to… More

Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy

– "Justice: John Rawls Vs. The Tradition of Political Philosophy," review of A Theory of Justice, by John Rawls, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 69, No. 2 (June 1975), pp. 648-662.
Excerpt: John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice has attracted more attention in the Anglo-Saxon world than any work of its kind in a generation. Its vogue results from two facts: It is the… More

The Education of Democratic Man: Emile

– "The Education of Democratic Man: Emile," Daedalus, Vol. 107, No. 3, Rousseau for Our Time (Summer 1978), pp. 135-153.
Excerpt: Thus Emile is one of those rare total or synoptic books, a book with which one can live and which becomes deeper as one becomes deeper, a book comparable to Plato’s Republic,… More

Rousseau’s Emile

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile: or On Education, translated with notes and an introduction by Allan Bloom, Basic Books, 1979.
Excerpt: Here then we have Rousseau’s response to Plato. Plato said that all men always begin by being prisoners in the cave. The cave is civil society considered in its effect on the… More

Our Listless Universities

– "Our Listless Universities," Change, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Apr. 1983), pp. 29-35.
Excerpt: I begin with my conclusion: students in our best universities do not believe in anything, and those universities are do-ing nothing about it, nor can they. An easy-going American… More

Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals

– "Raymond Aron: The Last of the Liberals," New Criterion, September 1985.
Excerpt: A few weeks ago, when I was in Paris, I went to have lunch at my friend Jean-Claude Casanova’s home. As I entered the great doors of the building on the Boulevard St. Michel, I… More

The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education

– The Crisis of American Democracy and Liberal Education: Collected Essays, 1986.
Excerpt: Therefore a truly political judgment is maintained so long as the issues are matters of life and death. Policy orientation helps keep the focus which we are too likely to lose. It… More

The Open Mind

– Interview with Allan Bloom, The Open Mind, PBS, 7 June 1987.
Watch The Closing of the American Mind on PBS. See more from The Open Mind.

The Closing of the American Mind

– The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, with a foreword by Saul Bellow, Simon & Schuster, 1987.  Reprint, Simon & Schuster, 2012.
Excerpt: I used to think that young Americans began whatever education they were to get at the age of eighteen, that their early lives were spiritually empty and that they arrived at the… More

How Nietzsche Conquered America

– "How Nietzsche Conquered America," The Wilson Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1987), pp. 80-93.
Excerpt: Modern democracy was, of course, the target of Nietzsche’s criticism.A s he saw it, rationalisma nd its egalitarianismw ere the contrary of creativity; daily life was for him… More

The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society

– "The Political Philosopher in Democratic Society: The Socratic View," The Roots of Political Philosophy: Ten Socratic Dialogues, Thomas L. Pangle, ed., Cornell University Press, 1987.

Giants and Dwarfs

– Giants and Dwarfs: Essays, 1960-1990, Simon and Schuster, 1990.
Excerpt: And we may further suppose that Gulliver has certain hidden thoughts and intentions which are only to be revealed by closely cross-examining him. He indicates this himself at the… More

The Legacy of Allan Bloom

– "The Legacy of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with Werner Dannhauser, Gertrude Himmelfarb, Joseph Bottum and MaryAnn McGrail, hosted by the Hudson Institute, C-SPAN, 18 May 2000.
Panel members discussed author Saul Bellow’s novel Ravelstein, a fictionalized account of the author’s friendship with professor of political philosophy Allan Bloom, best-selling author… More

The Historical Context of Allan Bloom

– "The Historical Context of Allan Bloom," panel discussion with James Ceaser, James Miller, John Tomasi and John McWhorter, hosted by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, C-SPAN, 3 October 2007.

Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind

– Nathan Tarcov, "Reforming Higher Education and the Opening of the American Mind," The Good Society, Vol. 17, No. 2 (2008), pp. 84-85.
Excerpt: The second point I would like to make is that although Bloom directed withering criticism against the current academic trends that denied the possibility of learning from the… More

Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later

– "Allan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind Twenty-Five Years Later: The Continuing Failure of Higher Education?," panel discussion with Nathan Tarcov, Bill Kristol, Hillel Fradkin, Janet Dougherty, moderated by John Walters, hosted by the Hudson Institute, Washington, DC, 15 June 2012.
Twenty-five years ago, Allan Bloom’s The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students offered a… More

Conference on the 25th Anniversary of The Closing of the American Mind

– Conference on the 25th anniversary of Allan Bloom's bestseller The Closing of the American Mind, hosted by the Program on Constitutional Government at Harvard University, 21 Sept. 2012. The first panel is on Students and is chaired by Arthur Melzer, with Kathryn Sensen, James Hankins, and Paul Cantor as speakers. The second panel is on the University and is chaired by R. Shep Melnick, with Nannerl Keohane, Rita Koganzon, and James Piereson. The third panel is chaired by William Kristol and features Margaret Soltan, Michael Davis and Nasser Behnegar as speakers.  
   

Full Bloom

– Algis Valiunas, Claremont Review of Books, Fall 2015.
Excerpt: Yet is one right to believe that Bloom represented political philosophy at its highest reach, and that he spoke for the best life possible? During the season of Bloom’s… More