--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The most important function of the…" description: "\"The most important function of the university in an age of reason is to protect reason from itself.\" — Allan Bloom" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/allan-bloom-4105_age_the-most-important-function-of-the-unive_2995869.png" --- # The most important function of the university in an age of… ![“The most important function of the university in an age of reason is to protect reason from itself.” quote by Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/allan-bloom-4105_age_the-most-important-function-of-the-unive_2995869.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/allan-bloom-4105_age_the-most-important-function-of-the-unive_2995869.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/allan-bloom-4105_age_the-most-important-function-of-the-unive_2995869.png) > “The most important function of the university in an age of reason is to protect reason from itself.” [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Universities must safeguard rational inquiry against its own biases and dogmas. **In simple terms:** Protect reason from its own excesses. Key Takeaway Critically examine campus ideologies. Themes education reason critical thinking Mood thoughtful analytical Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - academic curricula - policy debates - faculty hiring - student activism - public discourse Key Concepts philosophy institutional critique Questions to Reflect On - How can universities balance critical inquiry with practical education? - What safeguards prevent reason from becoming self‑defeating? A Different Perspective May overlook practical skills in favor of abstract critique. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Age of reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age-of-reason/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [University](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/university/) ## Related quotes > [“Sometimes all the procedures in the world can't protect you . . . but that's no reason to walk up to something that looks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-alan-gardner/sometimes-all-the-procedures-in-the-world-can-t-protect-you-but-that/) [James Alan Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-alan-gardner/) > [God allows us to feel pain for a reason: to protect us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-dungy/god-allows-us-to-feel-pain-for-a-reason-to-protect-us/) [Tony Dungy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-dungy/) > [I would uphold the law if for no other reason but to protect myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-more/i-would-uphold-the-law-if-for-no-other-reason-but-to-protect-myself/) [Thomas More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-more/) > [“But there is one more reason to protect other species. One seldom if ever mentioned. Perhaps we are the first to talk and think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/but-there-is-one-more-reason-to-protect-other-species-one-seldom-if/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“Thus the most important function of the leader is to encourage everyone to see him- or herself as a member of the larger system,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-kofman/thus-the-most-important-function-of-the-leader-is-to-encourage/) [Fred Kofman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-kofman/) > [In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/in-my-view-it-is-the-most-important-function-of-art-and-science-to-2/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I think masturbating is a really important function in art. People don't like to hear that kind of stuff, but it's true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patti-smith/i-think-masturbating-is-a-really-important-function-in-art-people-don/) [Patti Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patti-smith/) > [People ask me what's the most important function when you're starting an organization or setting up the kind of culture and values that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-schultz/people-ask-me-what-s-the-most-important-function-when-you-re-starting/) [Howard Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-schultz/) > [The most important function of education at any level is to develop the personality of the individual and the significance of his life to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-important-function-of-education-at-any-level-is-to-develop/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“...even if you are a token, you have an important function to fulfill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-height/even-if-you-are-a-token-you-have-an-important-function-to-fulfill/) [Dorothy Height](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-height/) > [An important function of the Supreme Court is to provide guidance, .. As a lower court judge, I appreciate clear guidance from the Supreme Court.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-roberts/an-important-function-of-the-supreme-court-is-to-provide-guidance-as/) [John Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-roberts/) > [The most important function of art and science is to Awaken the cosmic religious feeling and keep it alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-most-important-function-of-art-and-science-is-to-awaken-the/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [The most important function of a bibliographic entry is to help the reader obtain a copy of the cited work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-j-bernstein/the-most-important-function-of-a-bibliographic-entry-is-to-help-the/) [Daniel J. Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-j-bernstein/) > [The real important function of the church is to present the symbol, to perform the rite, to let you behold this divine message in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-campbell/the-real-important-function-of-the-church-is-to-present-the-symbol-to/) [Joseph Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-campbell/) > [“In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this religious feeling and keep it alive in those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/in-my-view-it-is-the-most-important-function-of-art-and-science-to/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) ## More by Allan Bloom > [There is one thing a professor can be absolutely certain of: almost every student entering the university believes, or says he believes, that truth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/there-is-one-thing-a-professor-can-be-absolutely-certain-of-almost/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Authentic values are those by which a life can be lived, which can form a people that produces great deeds and thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/authentic-values-are-those-by-which-a-life-can-be-lived-which-can/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Shakespeare's naturalness is attested to by the strange fact that he is the only classical author who remains popular. The critical termites are massed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/shakespeare-s-naturalness-is-attested-to-by-the-strange-fact-that-he/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The utilitarian behaves sensibly in all that is required for preservation but never takes account of the fact that he must die...His whole life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-utilitarian-behaves-sensibly-in-all-that-is-required-for/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The longing for Europe has been all but extinguished in the young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-longing-for-europe-has-been-all-but-extinguished-in-the-young/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Students now arrive at the university ignorant and cynical about our political heritage, lacking the wherewithal to be either inspired by it or seriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/students-now-arrive-at-the-university-ignorant-and-cynical-about-our/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Human nature must not be altered in order to have a problem-free world. Man is not just a problem-solving being, as behaviorists would wish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/human-nature-must-not-be-altered-in-order-to-have-a-problem-free/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Never did I think that the university was properly ministerial to the society around it. Rather I thought and think that society is ministerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/never-did-i-think-that-the-university-was-properly-ministerial-to-the/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Reason cannot establish values, and its belief that it can is the stupidiest and most pernicious illusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/reason-cannot-establish-values-and-its-belief-that-it-can-is-the/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is for them to be wise... specialized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/fathers-and-mothers-have-lost-the-idea-that-the-highest-aspiration/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [As Western nations became more prosperous, leisure, which had been put off for several centuries in favor of the pursuit of property, the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/as-western-nations-became-more-prosperous-leisure-which-had-been-put/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Historicism and cultural relativism actually are a means to avoid testing our own prejudices and asking, for example, whether men are really equal or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/historicism-and-cultural-relativism-actually-are-a-means-to-avoid/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [“Man requires a healing education which returns him to himself. Rousseau's paradoxes- his attack on the arts and the sciences and his practice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/man-requires-a-healing-education-which-returns-him-to-himself/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [The failure to read good books both enfeebles the vision and strengthens our most fatal tendency - the belief that the here and now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-failure-to-read-good-books-both-enfeebles-the-vision-and/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Life, liberty, and the pursuit of property were just what Aristotle did not talk about. They are the conditions of happiness; but the essence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/life-liberty-and-the-pursuit-of-property-were-just-what-aristotle-did/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) [Explore all 116 Allan Bloom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) ## More Age quotes > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [It's easier to change a law than an age-old mentality. Deep down, many prejudices, many hostilities, many fears persist. But if we take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dacia-maraini/it-s-easier-to-change-a-law-than-an-age-old-mentality-deep-down-many/) [Dacia Maraini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dacia-maraini/) > [When I first started writing, when I was 15, I would go to work with people and they would tell me my lyrics were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-claudio/when-i-first-started-writing-when-i-was-15-i-would-go-to-work-with/) [Sabrina Claudio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-claudio/) > [Real people speak in my books about the main events of the age, such as the war, the Chernobyl disaster, and the downfall of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/real-people-speak-in-my-books-about-the-main-events-of-the-age-such/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I am just enjoying the dream of being Milan coach at the age of 40.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gennaro-gattuso/i-am-just-enjoying-the-dream-of-being-milan-coach-at-the-age-of-40/) [Gennaro Gattuso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gennaro-gattuso/) > [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [I calculated that if I live up to the age of 80, then I end up using 450 toothbrushes in my life. All that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/i-calculated-that-if-i-live-up-to-the-age-of-80-then-i-end-up-using/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [Why is wisdom so fair? Why is beauty so wise? Because all else is temporary, while beauty and wisdom are the only real and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/why-is-wisdom-so-fair-why-is-beauty-so-wise-because-all-else-is/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [It was only when I went to acting school that I was like, "You are absolutely such a pigheaded freak show that you thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-matthey/it-was-only-when-i-went-to-acting-school-that-i-was-like-you-are/) [Giles Matthey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-matthey/) > [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/) [Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/) > [We have started to make music at age seven. That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The most important function of the university in an age of reason is to protect reason from itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Allan Bloom" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-most-important-function-of-the-university-in-an-age-of-reason-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-most-important-function-of-the-university-in-an-age-of-reason-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/allan-bloom-4105_age_the-most-important-function-of-the-unive_2995869.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/allan-bloom-4105_age_the-most-important-function-of-the-unive_2995869.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/379/allan-bloom-4105_age_the-most-important-function-of-the-unive_2995869.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The most important function of the university in an age of reason is to protect reason from itself.” — Allan Bloom", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Allan Bloom", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The most important function of the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-most-important-function-of-the-university-in-an-age-of-reason-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-most-important-function-of-the-university-in-an-age-of-reason-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```