Justin's Reviews > Giants and Dwarfs: Essays, 1960-1990

The controversy over Allan Bloom is somewhat curious. But at root, I think many were offended by the tone of his essays and his unremitting sarcasm.

Nussbaum argues that he is not a philosopher. And her comment feels pejorative. But I agree, I don't think Bloom was a philosopher. He was a brilliant academic who recognized genius (in particular Aristotle, Plato, Rosseau) and wanted our feeble minds to understand their greatness. He argues for a stripped-down reading of their work (free of modern philosophic baggage like historicism and fad philosophy -- I'm looking at you positivism). Instead, he argues, we must engage Machiavelli as if he were a contemporary, and answer those questions in earnest. And that means learning Italian, so get to it.

Bloom's assignment (he was a professor after all) is immersion in the great books by reading and understanding each and every word. He finds absolute truth in those works. We can truly understand human nature by studying Plato and engaging it as a contemporary work.

And now if you'll forgive me, I'm off to the library for a copy of Renaissance Italian for Dummies.