2. Allan Bloom is usually seen as a protege of Leo Strauss who helped popularize his mentor's work. But there's another angle to the story.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
3. Strauss's students loved him so much that they craved his approval. Desire to be the teacher's pet was part of the pedagogy.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
4. Strauss in general stood up for his students & reciprocated their affection. Bloom, interestingly enough, was an exception.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
4. We know from stray comments in Strauss's letters that he disdained Bloom, who he thought was rather too full of himself.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
5. The tension between Strauss & Bloom came out in the open in 1960, when Bloom tried to become Strauss's personal assistant & was rejected
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Replying to @HeerJeet
6. Robert Fulford: "Bloom fell into something like a depression.... He lost weight, and for a while even lost interest in his work."
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Replying to @HeerJeet
7. Bloom and Strauss later reconciled, but it's hard not to see in the 1960 incident a serous wound to Bloom amour-propre.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
8. Now think about Bloom's Closing of the American Mind -- a popularization of Strauss or revenge against him?
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Replying to @HeerJeet
9. Why popularize a philosopher who prized his esoteric status, who shunned the limelight, who wanted to speak to the few?
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Replying to @HeerJeet
10. In popularizing Strauss Bloom was going against the grain of Strauss's own agenda: an act of devotion that was also an act of revenge.
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11. To vulgarize the philosopher's teachings is a way of retaining status as his student while also subtly undermining the master.
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