Allan Bloom
Born: September 14, 1930 in Indianapolis, Indiana
Died: October 7, 1992 in Chicago, Illinois Pen Name: None Connection to Illinois: At the age of 16 Allan and his family moved to Chicago. Biography: Allan Bloom was a lecturer in Liberal Arts at the University of Chicago from 1955-1960. In 1979 he returned to the University of Chicago as professor of philosophy and political science with the Committee on Social Thought and the College until 1992.
Awards:
- Prix Jean-Jacques Rousseau from City of Geneva, 1987, for The Closing of the American Mind.
Selected Titles
 |
Giants and dwarfs : ISBN: 0671747266 OCLC: 26632730 Simon and Schuster, London : ©1991, ©1990. |
 |
Giants and dwarfs : ISBN: 0671707779 OCLC: 22004935 Simon and Schuster, New York : ©1990. Essays on teachers, education, and books. |
 |
Love and friendship / ISBN: 0671891200 OCLC: 867795097 Simon & Schuster, New York : [1994], ©1993. |
 |
Shakespeare on love and friendship / ISBN: 0226060454 OCLC: 42861829 University of Chicago Press, Chicago : 2000. "William Shakespeare is the only classical author to remain widely popular - not only in America but throughout the world - and Allan Bloom argues that this is because no other writer holds up a truer mirror to human nature. Unlike the Romantics and other moderns, Shakespeare has no project for the betterment or salvation of mankind - his poetry simply gives us eyes to see what is there. In particular, we see the full variety of erotic connections, from the "star-crossed" devotions of Romeo and Juliet to the failed romance of Troilus and Cressida to the problematic friendship of Falstaff and Hal." "These highly original interpretations of the plays convey a deep respect for their author and a conviction that we still have much to learn from him. In Bloom's view, we live in a love-impoverished age; he asks us to turn once more to Shakespeare because the playwright gives us a rich vision of what is permanent in human nature without sharing our contemporary assumptions about erotic love."--Jacket. |
 |
Shakespeare's politics / ISBN: 0226060411 OCLC: 7554121 University of Chicago Press, Chicago : 1981, ©1964. |
 |
The Closing of the American Mind ISBN: 0613185110 OCLC: 27420126 Blackstone Audiobooks 1987 |
 |
The closing of the American mind : ISBN: 9781451683202 OCLC: 785276058 Simon and Schuster Paperbacks, New York : 2012, ©1987. In this book, the author (a distinguished political philosopher) argues that the social/political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis marked by obvious declines in appreciation of humanities, a drop in the qualitative output of our university systems, and a disquieting disconnect between today's students and the spiritual and cultural traditions of their heritage. |