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Eunsuk Roh |
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Relativism |
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This is an excerpt from a review written by an anonymous person on amazon.com on the book 'Closing of the American Mind' that I thought was relevant to the topic that came up on relativism of Einstein earlier in class today. I thought it was an interesting point to share.
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Of students, Bloom writes, "The relativity of truth is not a theoretical insight but a moral postulate, the condition of a free society, or so they see it. They have all been equipped with this framework early on, and it is the modern replacement for the inalienable and natural rights that used to be the traditional grounds for a free society."
The university, he shows, does nothing to contest this belief, but feeds it instead. The end result is that there can be no more truth or goodness and no need or even ability to make tough choices. Where the purpose of higher education once was to enable the student to find truth, the modern university teaches that there is no truth, only "lifestyle."
There exist in the world polar opposites. Bloom lists "reason-revelation, freedom-necessity, democracy-aristocracy, good-evil, body-soul, self-other, city-man, eternity-time, being-nothing." Serious thought requires recognition of the existence of these opposites and the choice of one over the other. "A serious life means being fully aware of the alternatives, thinking about them with all the intensity one brings to bear on life-and-death questions, in full recognition that every choice is a great risk with necessary consequences that are hard to bear," Bloom says.
He argues persuasively that the modern university does not force students to confront these alternatives at all, much less seriously think about them. Therefore, the modern university fails in its purpose, which is to create students aware of the vast array of possibilities that life offers and capable of choosing the good life.
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- for a full review visit http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671657151/qid=1115695041/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-1344270-5300037?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
- Interesting book by the way. A best seller in 1989 in the New York Times I believe.
Have a great week everyone! |
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