But Pinker and Bloom argue that the organic nature of language strongly suggests that it has an adaptational origin.
It has not led to repression as Bloom argued, but to the very opposite - a flowering of ideas and scholarly innovation unmatched in our history.
That personality, Bloom argues, must face a tension between the principle of equality and the idea of natural difference.
Bloom argued that our capitalist economy and liberal-democratic order turn civic virtue to mercenary ends.
Bloom argued that each and every "great poet" must struggle with and overcome the anxiety of simply imitating his predecessor poet.
Bloom argues that "openness" and absolute understanding undermines critical thinking and eliminates the "point of view" that defines cultures.
Bloom argues that commercial pursuits had become more highly valued than love, the philosophic quest for truth, or the civilized pursuits of honor and glory.
As a result, Bloom argues, authors of real power must inevitably "misread" their precursors' works in order to make room for fresh imaginings.
Shakespeare, Bloom argues, could still provide this education for English-speaking peoples on the grounds that his work is "properly read and interpreted."
Bloom, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, argued for a traditional Great Books-based liberal education in his lengthy essay The Closing of the American Mind.