Allan Bloom
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Allan Bloom’s Closing of the American Mind until I read the essay that presaged it over on National Review Online. It’s an awesome read (although kind of dense), and not as long as the book. (For those who’ve never read Bloom, his book is an exploration of the modern philosophical environment found in universities – how the “democratic ethos” has waged war on the pursuit of truth, among other big, important issues.)
I also find it interesting how, in spite of Bloom often being claimed by conservatives, many liberals aren’t at all hostile to his arguments. I found this interesting article in the New York Times trying to claim Bloom as a friend of both left and right, and I think it makes a number of fair points. Bloom, being a classicist and lover of the quest for virtue, was not necessarily a friend of populism – and a certain breed of modern conservatism, represented by, say, Sean Hannity or Sarah Palin, relies heavily on populist sentiment. I’m not really big on that part of conservatism either.
Nor am I big on the idea of “the market” as a good in and of itself. As far as I’m concerned, capitalism, being essentially “freedom,” is the freedom to do good or to do bad. Such freedom is necessary but not sufficient for good to occur. Capitalism and democracy are not intrinsically good – they’re better than the alternatives in lots of important ways, but they’re not enough. And there’s certainly a great deal of evil that such freedom allows – evil that has to be fought. So those particular arguments against conservatism don’t much bother me. (Christ is higher than politics, after all.)
So I guess all this to say that I’m heartened that folks from both sides of the political spectrum can come together around Bloom’s writing – if this article is representative of anyone on the left other than the author. I hope so.