Great Books of the Western World

Product Information

Whether it’s satire or not, he introduces the idea that we can thoughtfully come up with a way to govern ourselves, and then he passes the baton to Aristotle and he writes the politics and he puts forth how he thinks maybe it should be done and off you go. So interesting. In having those discussions, I’ve been able to know why I believe something, because when you’re 21, you’re like, “I believe this,” and if somebody holds your feet to the fire and says, “Why?” A lot of times we end up saying, “Well, ’cause, because.” Knowing why I believe something gives me permission, it gives me room to actually change my mind.

Declaration of Independence Articles of Confederation The Constitution Hamilton, Madison, Jay. The Federalist Mill. On Liberty Mill. Representative Government Mill. Utilitarianism The Critique of Pure Reason The Critique of Practical Reason, and Other Ethical Treatises The Critique of Judgment The initial sales of the book sets were poor, with only 1,863 sets sold in 1952, and less than one-tenth of that number of book sets were sold in 1953. A financial debacle loomed until Encyclopædia Britannica altered the sales strategy, and sold the book set through experienced door-to-door encyclopædia-salesmen, as Hutchins had feared; but, through that method, 50,000 sets were sold in 1961. In 1963 the editors published Gateway to the Great Books, a ten-volume set of readings meant to introduce the authors and the subjects of the Great Books. Each year, from 1961 to 1998, the editors published The Great Ideas Today, an annual updating about the applicability of the Great Books to contemporary life. [7] [8] According to Alex Beam, Great Books of the Western World eventually sold a million sets. [9] The Internet and the E-book reader have made available some of the Great Books of the Western World in an on-line format. [10] Volumes [ edit ] I would go even further than that. The prefix “Great” can actually be unhelpful. It can lead to a kind of snobbism that keeps us from an honest interaction with the work in question.Federalist [Numbers 1-10, 15, 31, 47, 51, 68-71] (Vol. 43, pp. 1-3, 11-20, 29-53, 62-66, 103-105, 153-156, 162-165, 205-216) Mortimer J. Adler (1990). "Bibliography of Additional Readings". The Syntopicon: II. Great Books of the Western World, vol. 1–2 (2nded.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. pp. 909–996. ISBN 0-85229-531-6. In asking those questions, you bring the consciousness of the entire group to bear on the idea in the book, and talking to those other consciousnesses about these ideas is very [inaudible 00:20:14]. It helps us round out the trivium and it helps us actually interact in a physical way and mental way with the text. Those two things are necessary I think for the book to actually transform your brain, transform you, make you into the new person. Machiavelli. The Prince Hobbes. Leviathan, or, Matter, Form and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civil

A good open-ended Socratic question like that will let us ultimately talk about everything in that book almost. It’s about the Trojan War and I ask, “What is war?” Well, Brett, you’ve read The Iliad. What’s war? When you or your children begin reading The Great Books, you can better join The Great Conversation and discuss the important ideas and topics to humankind.

Pages

Moliere. The School for Wives Moliere. The Critique of the School for Wives Moliere. Tartuffe Moliere. Don Juan Moliere. The Miser Moliere. The Would-Be Gentleman Moliere. The Would-Be Invalid Racine. Berenice Macdonald, Dwight. "The Book-of-the-Millennium Club". 29 November 1952 with later appendix. The New Yorker . Retrieved 2007-05-29. I also wonder how many of the over 100,000 customers who have by now caved in under the pressure of Mr. Harden and his banner-bearing colleagues are doing much browsing in these upland pastures? Also of interest: The Ten Year Reading Plan ( Listings) based on the Great Books; and the Gateway to the Great Books ( Listings), allegedly for younger readers. There are conversations between friends. Conversations between family. And conversations in the media. But did you know there’s also been a conversation going on between writers, thinkers, and philosophers for a couple thousand years? What’s been called “the Great Conversation” refers to the waythe authors of the so-called “Great Books” have for millennia been referencing and riffing on the work of their predecessors, and this dialogue is one you can not only eavesdrop on yourself, but join in. Note: I have not been able to examine the second edition of Great Books; I have compiled this list from library catalogs

Great Books of the Western World" stands as a remarkable achievement in its ambition to encapsulate the breadth and depth of Western intellectual tradition. Adler's canon has had a profound influence on education, shaping curricula and discussions on the foundations of knowledge. The project's emphasis on the humanities, philosophy, and literature reflects a commitment to cultivating critical thinking, cultural literacy, and a well-rounded understanding of the human experience. Others thought that while the selected authors were worthy, too much emphasis was placed on the complete works of a single author rather than a wider selection of authors and representative works (for instance, all of Shakespeare's plays are included). The second edition of the set already contained 130 authors and 517 individual works. The editors point out that the guides to additional reading for each topic in the Syntopicon refer the interested reader to many more authors. [17] Difficulty [ edit ] Great Books of the Western World is a series of books originally published in the United States in 1952, by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., to present the great books in 54 volumes.

Individual Titles

Adler, Mortimer Jerome (1988). Reforming Education, Geraldine Van Doren, ed. (New York: MacMillan), p. xx. For The Learning Channel's series about great books, see Great Books (TV program). The Great Books (second edition)

Listed first are are the materials added from before the 20th century, with their 1990 volume numbers (according to the Wikipedia article):

Key Features

One of the things I’ve found is these guys have been grappling with these questions, like what is justice, what is courage. They’re still not getting it right. For me, it’s like, “Boy, these guys have had a hard time. They’re really smart. Maybe I should have fewer opinions, not be so certain.” It doesn’t mean you don’t have any certainties, but as you said, once you realize how hard it is to pin this stuff down, there’s a humility that comes with that.