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Hey, you're listening to Parts of the Examin Life episode 192, Part 2 on Alan Bloom's

closing of the American Mind.

He's been arguing for a great books program or something like it as being a uniquely wonderful

way to enable people to think about the origins of the concepts they use and to authentically

think, not just take what society has given them.

So we want to move more specifically to his issues with the university, what's wrong with

his organization, how it's lost its sense of mission.

He gives a whole history of the university throughout the ages and the different ways

that it related to the outside world.

So what is wrong with the university today or in the night in the 87?

Well, it's higher education became more available.

There was a greater demand for secondary education.

So there were more schools, more enrollments, and consequently a shift away from the mission

of the university that he wanted to see, which is about liberal education, to more of specialization

and technical or professional education.

And so in a sense, the university has kind of lost their way.

That's kind of something that was happening in the society, but structurally, he talks about

the breakdown into basically the three areas, the natural science, the social science,

and the humanities.

...