Relevant to the current campus climate. ( )

12/6/22

Utter rubbish. Did any of the predictions come true? His conclusions are already outdated. An old fart pining for the "good ol' days." A 19th century education is no longer relevant. The good old days were merely old not necessarily any better, and by definition half the people in the world are always going to be below average.

If Bloom had his way only the elite would ever be allowed to rule, something we see all too frequently is a disaster. ( )

I have waited years and years to read this. I knew there was good stuff in here, but now that I finally made time for it, I wasn't as excited to read about it now. Still, it was a provocative, intriguing, and historical read.

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Published in the late 80s, Allan Bloom wrote a scathing and disappointing report about the decline of reason and rise of relativism in the American university system. He blamed the 1960s for the change. You think?

Bloom argued for a return to the Great Books in education, which help us to think about the ideas that matter: is there truth, freedom, and a God? -- something young people crave to know, but now never find out in higher learning because everything is relative.
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A few final (truncated) quotes:

"A good program of liberal education feeds the student's love of truth and passion to live a good life."

"The only serious solution is the one that is universally rejected: the good old Great Books approach, in which liberal education means reading classic texts, letting them dictate what the questions are and the method of approaching them,...trying to read them as their authors wished them to be read." ( )

Quite an interesting look into the state of the university in the late 1980's. According to Al Mohler, if these things were true then, how much more so now!

Here in his book the late Alan Bloom, a professor at an elite American university, offers a penetrating look into the status of higher education systems. The institutions and universities have become little more than an inculcation of values such as openness and tolerance. It is a unique work to have such a lengthy stay atop the NYT bestseller list, yet I presume many today would find Bloom obtuse; he calls out the cultural mantras of openness, tolerance, and relativism as impoverishing the souls of today's students.

Bloom's analysis is undoubtedly insightful and provocative, but sometimes challenging to understand. He regularly critiques and cites from philosophers such as Rousseau, Montesquieu, Hobbes, and Locke, and little familiarity with these characters can make his points hard to grasp. Many chapters were difficult to follow, not because he is unclear, but because he is drawing from such a deep well of philosophical knowledge. Even despite these shortcomings in the reader, those involved at any level of education would benefit from a handful of selections from his work, such as the brief section on books. He says, "our students have lost the practice of and the taste for reading. They have not learned how to read, nor do they have the expectation of delight or improvement from reading" (63). He goes on to cite how pop psychology is now the sole informant of what people are like and their range of motives (64). Furthermore, he states, "lack of education simply results in students' seeking for enlightenment wherever it is readily available, without being able to distinguish between the sublime and trash, insight and propaganda" (64). In an information age that has only accelerated exponentially since Bloom's title released, this truth is even more evident. With information whizzing about whenever and wherever we want it, discernment and knowledge is hardly distinguishable from the soiled refuse that so often passes for knowledge today.

From a theological vantage point, though the decline of the book in university is lamentable, the book of all books is Scripture. It stands as the norming norm. Convictions about this book led to the founding of the university in the first place and it is not a little ironic that the narrative is ever inching towards full circle. This book has long since fell out of favor in the major institutions. Furthermore, the university, which began out of convictions about one book, have gradually lost their influence in directing students toward enjoyment and enlightenment from books in general.

Though much more could be said, Christians realize that the primary location for education begins in the home (Deut. 6, 9). Christian parents cannot neglect this responsibility and settle for passing on social cues and merely what is acceptable societal behavior. Many ideas of significant consequence are being passed out like hot cakes not only in the university but across all the cultural mediums today. The re-education of young people remains essential. Though the education systems are faltering, parents must not! One remedy can be found in taking hold of the book of books and allowing its words find a rich dwelling place deep down in the soul and a fruitful place of prominence in family discussion. Easier said than done, but conviction will endure in the long run.

I only read about halfway through, and as the prescriptive side waned in its helpfulness, I eventually put it down to move on to other things.