Allan Bloom
A provocative thinker who argued that the modern university had abandoned its soul, sparking a fierce national debate about culture and education.
1930–1992 (age 62)·American philosopher, classicist, and academician·Birthday: September 14·The Silent Generation
Biography
Allan Bloom was a scholar who detonated a bomb in the genteel world of academia with his 1987 bestseller, 'The Closing of the American Mind'. A student of the enigmatic philosopher Leo Strauss, Bloom believed that the great books of Western thought held timeless truths, and he watched with despair as universities, in his view, traded the pursuit of wisdom for a shallow relativism. His book, surprisingly popular for a dense philosophical critique, became a cultural flashpoint, championed by conservatives and denounced by many of his peers. Behind the polemicist was a brilliant translator and teacher, revered by students at Cornell and the University of Chicago for his electrifying seminars on Plato and Rousseau. Bloom's legacy is that of a Socratic gadfly, whose uncomfortable questions about education, music, and the souls of the young continue to resonate decades later.
The Silent Generation
1928–1945
Born between the Depression and the end of WWII. Too young to fight, old enough to remember. They became the conformist middle managers of the 1950s — and the civil rights leaders who quietly dismantled Jim Crow.
Allan was born in 1930, placing them squarely in The Silent Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Allan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1930
#1 Movie
All Quiet on the Western Front
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front
Allan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1930Born
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1935Started school
Social Security Act signed into law
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,450President: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Cheek to Cheek" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: Mutiny on the Bounty
1943Became a teenager
Allies invade Sicily; Battle of Stalingrad ends
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,290Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"I've Heard That Song Before" — Harry JamesBest Picture: Casablanca
1946Could drive
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1948Could vote
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1951Turned 21
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1960Turned 30
Kennedy-Nixon debates become first televised presidential debates
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $11,900Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Theme from A Summer Place" — Percy FaithBest Picture: The Apartment
1970Turned 40
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1980Turned 50
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1990Turned 60
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
1992Died at 62
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
Key Achievements
- Authored the 1987 cultural critique 'The Closing of the American Mind', which spent months on the New York Times bestseller list.
- Produced acclaimed translations and interpretive essays on Plato's 'Republic' and Rousseau's 'Emile'.
- Taught and mentored a generation of students at the University of Chicago's Committee on Social Thought.
- His work helped popularize the ideas of his teacher, Leo Strauss, within broader public intellectual debates.
Did You Know?
He was a close friend and colleague of the novelist Saul Bellow, who based a character on Bloom in his novel 'Ravelstein'.
Bloom was an accomplished pianist with a particular love for opera.
He studied under the French Hegelian philosopher Alexandre Kojève in Paris.
“Education is the movement from darkness to light.”
