No. As Anon pointed out, Bloom made similar arguments about identity politics and repressive tolerance in The Closing of the American Mind.
I largely agree regarding your comment below about Donald Trump and populist anti-intellectualism, although I will point out that both sides are reacting to perceived condescension from the other side (deplorables, etc.). A broken clock is right twice a day. Sometimes, Trump or those in his movement make an argument (usually a dumbed-down form), which others have been making for years and which happens to be true. That doesnтАЩt mean anyone who makes that argument supports Trump.
I hear ya, Anon Dude. I referenced the far right only because in these dark days, attacks from that direction often involve a strong anti-academic, anti-intellectual ethos. Down with the educated elite! (This coming from a president whose gold toilet is the very definition of elitism.) Up with covfefe! We have no idea what that word means but we certainly prefer it to anything English departments teach!
Frankly, one of my interests in this blog was particularly because I thought academia had become a left-wing monoculture and it was bad for intellectual freedom and inquiry. (Could traditional roles be *good* in some cases? Could religion have positive aspects? I don't know, you'll lose your job for even asking.) So, you know, any movement against anti-intellectualism on the right is to be applauded.
I've pretty much accepted that it's way too much of an uphill battle to engage with the humanities for me personally at this point. I'm well into middle age, my training's in the sciences, and I'm a cishet(ish) white (passing?) man. If I wrote a book nobody would publish it, and I'd be up against people who have been writing poetry since grammar school. I'm not arrogant enough to believe I can do better than people who completed degrees in English and have been writing for decades. *Viciste, sinistri*.
Is Allan Bloom a member of the radical right?
Not in my opinion. Do you think he is?
No. As Anon pointed out, Bloom made similar arguments about identity politics and repressive tolerance in The Closing of the American Mind.
I largely agree regarding your comment below about Donald Trump and populist anti-intellectualism, although I will point out that both sides are reacting to perceived condescension from the other side (deplorables, etc.). A broken clock is right twice a day. Sometimes, Trump or those in his movement make an argument (usually a dumbed-down form), which others have been making for years and which happens to be true. That doesnтАЩt mean anyone who makes that argument supports Trump.
It's a good point though. Ms. Libes is much closer to a Bloomian (Allan or Harold) fan of the old-school Western Canon than any kind of far-rightist.
I hear ya, Anon Dude. I referenced the far right only because in these dark days, attacks from that direction often involve a strong anti-academic, anti-intellectual ethos. Down with the educated elite! (This coming from a president whose gold toilet is the very definition of elitism.) Up with covfefe! We have no idea what that word means but we certainly prefer it to anything English departments teach!
I am going to agree with you.
Frankly, one of my interests in this blog was particularly because I thought academia had become a left-wing monoculture and it was bad for intellectual freedom and inquiry. (Could traditional roles be *good* in some cases? Could religion have positive aspects? I don't know, you'll lose your job for even asking.) So, you know, any movement against anti-intellectualism on the right is to be applauded.
I've pretty much accepted that it's way too much of an uphill battle to engage with the humanities for me personally at this point. I'm well into middle age, my training's in the sciences, and I'm a cishet(ish) white (passing?) man. If I wrote a book nobody would publish it, and I'd be up against people who have been writing poetry since grammar school. I'm not arrogant enough to believe I can do better than people who completed degrees in English and have been writing for decades. *Viciste, sinistri*.