Great Books of the Western World

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The original editors had three criteria for including a book in the series drawn fromWestern Civilization: Berlau, John (August 2001). "What Happened to the Great Ideas? – Mortimer J. Adler's Great Books programs". Insight Magazine Insight on the News. 17 (32): 16. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014 . Retrieved 2 December 2020. Harvard University's Henry Louis Gates blasted the Great Books for showing 'profound disrespect for the intellectual capacities of people of color—red, brown or yellow.' In addition, most volumes--though identical to those of the older version--were renumbered. And some contents were moved from one volume to another. This popular author worked with thought of Aristotle and Saint Thomas Aquinas. He lived for the longest stretches in cities of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Mateo. He worked for Columbia University, the University of Chicago, Encyclopædia Britannica, and own institute for philosophical research. Adler was smitten by these great books and the changes he saw in himself, and he ended up not graduating from Columbia because he had to take a physical ed requirement, and he refused to take swimming for physical ed and they didn’t give him the degree. He got one in the ’80s from there as honorary.

It’s the first autobiography that we read, autobiographical work, and he tells the story of the pear tree. He’s like, “The worst thing I’ve ever done was I stole this pear not because I wanted to eat it, not because it tasted good, but just to steal it. The stakes were low and I did it because it was naughty.” He’s like, “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever done.” You could talk about that for hours. Frazer. The Golden Bough (selections) Weber. Essays in Sociology (selections) Huizinga. The Waning of the Middle Ages Levi-Strauss. Structural Anthropology (selections) 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.He walked away and he went to University of Chicago and ended up founding with Robert Hutchins The Basic Program at University of Chicago, which is based in these great books, and so Adler believed that these books were for everyone and that reading and studying these books was a great democratic project. Not a political project, but a project for everybody, for the demos, to be a good citizen, you needed to know the things in these books to be acclimated to society, to know how to think, to know what’s at stake. It was his life’s work to get more people to read these. The series is now in its second edition and contains 60 volumes. ( Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Books_of_the_Western_World)

Rules for the Direction of the Mind, Discourse on the Method,Meditations on First Philosophy, Objections Against the Meditations Peter Temes (2001-07-03). "Death of a Great Reader and Philosopher". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2007-11-04 . Retrieved 2007-07-11. Montesquieu. The Spirit of Laws Rousseau. On the Origin of Inequality Rousseau. On Political Economy Rousseau. The Social Contract

Key Features

Numerous published works of American educator and philosopher Mortimer Jerome Adler include How to Read a Book (1940) and The Conditions of Philosophy (1965). 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. I've added the binding color for each volume of the 1952 edition. This tells you the basic category of the contents, according to this scheme:

Mortimer J. Adler (1990). "Section 1: The Great Books and the Great Ideas". The Great Conversation (2nded.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. p. 27. ISBN 0-85229-531-6. 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 Veblen. The Theory of the Leisure Class Tawney. The Acquisitive Society Keynes. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money Machiavelli. The Prince Hobbes. Leviathan, or, Matter, Form and Power of a Commonwealth Ecclesiastical and Civil Generation of Animals [Book I, Ch. 1, 17-18, 20-23] (Vol. 9, pp. 161-171, 255-256, 261-266, 268-271)One of the strengths of Adler's collection lies in its ability to bridge disciplines and facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue. By including works from diverse fields, the canon encourages readers to explore the interconnectedness of ideas, fostering a holistic understanding of Western thought. The interpretive essays accompanying each work provide valuable guidance, context, and insights, making complex texts more accessible to readers. Adler and Hutchins went on to found the Great Books of the Western World program and the Great Books Foundation. Adler founded and served as director of the Institute for Philosophical Research in 1952. He also served on the Board of Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica since its inception in 1949, and succeeded Hutchins as its chairman from 1974. As the director of editorial planning for the fifteenth edition of Britannica from 1965, he was instrumental in the major reorganization of knowledge embodied in that edition. He introduced the Paideia Proposal which resulted in his founding the Paideia Program, a grade-school curriculum centered around guided reading and discussion of difficult works (as judged for each grade). With Max Weismann, he founded The Center for the Study of The Great Ideas. I'm only guessing, as I don't own the set, but from pictures it appears that the 1990 set also follows this scheme. I would guess that they go like this: Lucretius The Way Things Are Epictetus. Discourses Marcus Aurelius. The Meditations Plotinus. The Six Enneads

IV, The Second Part of King Henry IV, The Life of King Henry V (Vol. 26, pp. 320-351, 434-502, 532-567) Robert M. Hutchins (1952). "Chapter VI: Education for All". The Great Conversation. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. p. 44. Presenting a wide variety and divergence of views or opinions, among which there is likely to be some truth but also much more error, the Syntopicon [and by extension the larger set itself] invites readers to think for themselves and make up their own minds on every topic under consideration. [21] See also [ edit ]

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SHAKESPEARE: Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus (Vol. 26, pp. 568-596; Vol. 27, pp. 311-392) Hegel. The Philosophy of Right Hegel. The Philosophy of History Kierkegaard. Fear and Trembling Nietzsche. Beyond Good and Evil