In Plato's Cave

by Alvin Kernan

In this delightful and candid memoir, Alvin Kernan recalls his life as a student, professor, provost, and dean during a distinguished career in some of higher education’s most hallowed halls. With his customary wit and insight, Kernan recounts his experiences at Columbia, Williams, Oxford, Yale, and Princeton in the company of an array of fascinating colleagues. And he describes from an insider’s point of view how colleges and universities in the second half of the twentieth century have been transformed in radical ways.

Against the background of what it was like to work and teach in turbulent decades of change, Kernan details the broader educational battles in which he became embroiled. He discusses the struggle for equality of opportunity for women and minorities; the questioning of administrative and intellectual authority; the appearance of deconstructive types of theory; the technological shift from printed to electronic information; the politicization of the classroom; and much more. His vividly remembered account is not only a unique personal story, it is a thought-provoking history that brims with insight into what has been won and lost in the culture wars.

Genres: Philosophy, Education

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Alvin Kernan is Avalon University Professor of Humanities, Emeritus, Princeton University. He served in the US Navy, 1941-45. Among his previous books are The Fruited Plain: Fables for a Postmodern Democracy and In Plato's Cave, both published by Yale University Press.

Reviews

[James Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does a philosopher live and act in the real world? Alvin Kernan's touching memoir answers this question through sharing his experiences as student, professor, and administrator at a variety of major universities. In his telling of these experiences he also sheds light on the changes in university life over the second half of the twentieth century. I enjoyed the personal touches and the insights into the academic life that seemed to be true. I say seemed to be only because, even in a supposed non-fiction memoir like this I always sense there may be a bit of unreliability in the narrator. I still found this book an engaging and thought-provoking read for anyone interested in philosophy and academic life.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you prefer to listen to my review, here is the playlist. I made quite a few videos discussing various topics from the book.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...

Very good memoir of a university English literature professor who taught and served as an administrator (provost) at both Yale and Princeton. His main reason for writing is to warn the future of what has happened to academia and its product, ideas. He nicely links together the changes that have occurred from the 50s to the 90s, from traditional oversight and authority to the 'democratization' of everything in the university, including weaker standards, faculty, and students. Standards have lowered as more students are accepted based on non-merit criteria. Faculty have similarly been hired ignoring traditional standards and favoring diversity quotas and fringe research interests. The postmodern movement is implicated, questioning objectivity and truth and replacing it with...nothing. When relativism reigns in knowledge, so too it reigns in all other aspects of the university, making traditional policy indefensible.

On the book itself, it is a 'memoire' meaning that it is written in narrative form, chronological, and full of anecdotes. I think the author did a very good job of balancing the anecdotes, the pace, and the details of his time as an academic (including some pieces of his family life which has very hard on his wife and kids, and his several trips back to Europe to write).

[Michael Krall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating read. Well written. Very engaging. An interesting insight into changes in higher ed including politics and campus intrigue. I wish there was a bit more about his family.

[Rees Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cave theory is very interesting but I'll be honest it is one of the things I have flicked through on the kindle and not studied in depth.

Very interesting hypotheses though.