Allan Bloom Philosopher

Allan David Bloom (September 14, 1930 – October 7, 1992) was an American philosopher, classicist, and academician. He studied under David Grene, Leo Strauss, Richard McKeon and Alexandre Kojève. He subsequently taught at Cornell University, the University of Toronto, Yale University, École Normale Supérieure of Paris, and the University of Chicago. Bloom championed the idea of Great Books education and became famous for his criticism of contemporary American higher education, with his views being expressed in his bestselling 1987 book, The Closing of the American Mind. Characterized as a conservative in the popular media, Bloom denied that he was a conservative, and asserted that what he sought to defend was the 'theoretical life'. Saul Bellow wrote Ravelstein, a roman à clef based on Bloom, his friend and colleague at the University of Chicago.

Personal facts

Birth dateSeptember 14, 1930
Birth place
Indianapolis , United States
Date of deathOctober 07, 1992
Place of death
Chicago , Illinois , United States
Era
20th-century philosophy
Main interest
Nihilism
Political philosophy
Continental philosophy
Renaissance philosophy
William Shakespeare
Ancient Greek philosophy
French literature
History of philosophy

Search