The Closing of the American Mind

Publisher Comments:
The Closing of the American Mind, a publishing phenomenon in hardcover, is now a paperback literary event. In this acclaimed number one national best-seller, one of our country's most distinguished political philosophers argues that the social/political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis. Allan Bloom's sweeping analysis is essential to understanding America today. It has fired the imagination of a public ripe for change.
Synopsis:
The Closing of the American Mind, a publishing phenomenon in hardcover, is now a paperback literary event. In this acclaimed number one national best-seller, one of our country's most distinguished political philosophers argues that the social/political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis. Allan Bloom's sweeping analysis is essential to understanding America today. It has fired the imagination of a public ripe for change.
Contents
Foreword by Saul Bellow
Preface
Introduction: Our Virtue
PART ONE. STUDENTS
The Clean Slate
Boob
Music
Relationships
Self-Centeredness
Equality
Race
Sex
Separateness
Divorce
Love
Eros
PART TWO. NIHILISM, AMERICAN STYLE
The German Connection
Two Revolutions and Two States of Nature
The Serf
Creativity
Culture
Values
The Nietzscheanization of the Left or Vice Versa
Our Ignorance
PART THREE. THE UNIVERSITY
From Socrates' Apology to Heidegger's Rektoratsrede
Tocqueville on Democratic Intellectual Life
The Relation Between Thought and Civil Society
The Philosophic Experience
The Enlightenment Transformation
Swift's Doubts
Rousseau's Radicalization and the German University
The Sixties
The Student and the University
Liberal Education
The Decomposition of the University
The Disciplines
Conclusion
Index