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Just as there is genuine reason, there is also pseudo-reason or sophistry.The Great Books were the answer to these questions. If you imagine the Great Books are sexist or racist, talk to your therapist. But in order to do that, I needed to discern the distinction between true and pseudo-science, true and imitation rationality.I noticed that by and large our society is inundated with sophistry, slippery words, advertising white noise, deception, doubletalk, a machiavellian diplomacy. I was brought to the Great Books via a spiritual orientation. I recommend purchasing secondhand alternative translations of some of these books. They make reason accessible for a reasonable price whilst showing up the superficiality and lack of substance in almost everyone's naive faith in their own reasonability.People don't like the Great Books because they are an affront to their pride, an allergy to their arrogance, and a hammer to their denial.
You cannot delude yourself with illusions of rationality after reading them.
Except for Karl Marx, they exemplify just, wise, balanced, mature, sophisticated reason.
It is jejune.That said, many of the translations are old.
I felt strongly motivated to distinguish between genuine spirituality and pseudo-spirituality.
Others say the Great Books are elitist; this is the attitude of the anti-elite elitists whom Harold Bloom calls the "culture of resentment".
Among them are the essential teachings of reason in logic, philosophy, history, sociology, rhetoric, poetry, and wisdom literature.
My conclusion so far is that the Great Books are not Truth with a capital T, but they sure are Reason with a capital R.If you want genuine reason, clarity, logic, reality, and scientific precision, these are prerequisite reading for being entitled to form sensible opinions.If you want to contribute to society, then the Great Books teach us what is meant by the words "society" and "contribute" so that we may do that.The Great Books are the ultimate humbling intellectual experience available.
Most are old and good, a few are old and bad translations.
You may as well read a different translation the second time round anyway, but having a more recent version helps clear up what is the writer's stuff and what is the translator's stuff.
Total Quality Books promptly refunded my money when they discovered their mistake. There was a mix-up with the order. I was only sent the introductory volume instead of the 60 volume set of Great Books of the Western World. Amazon did a good job informing me what to do. They were very helpful.
And, but for Adler's introductory essays (available from Amazon vendors in a popular edition) the Syntopicon is a boondoggle. Though exclusionary by race, class, and gender, even in the second edition, the contents are indisputably important. That said, the set's unintroduced, unannotated texts, reproduced in _very_ small type defeat the compilers' purpose. These flaws are compounded by reliance on very old public-domain translations which "erect more barriers between reader and text than the original" languages themselves. Great Bookies would do better to buy individual works in recent paperback editions with full critical apparatus.
Be aware, this is not like a set of college textbooks. The general organization of The Great Books is by date written, but there are so many cross-references of the "great ideas" and "great authors" that you can find any subject, idea or author by using the Syntopicon as your guide. Unless you read "The Great Conversation" and the two volume Syntopicon you will undoubtedly be bewildered about the organizational structure of these books. "Influence" was not a criterion for selection, otherwise Hitler, Stalin and Lenin would have been incorporated, among other notable authors who were omitted. This is the second edition of the compendium of Great Books. It is also a distance-learning program and uses the Socratic method for discussions, which are held by telephone with tutors (what teachers or professors are usually called when using this method of inquiry and discussion). If you are looking for such a thing you will not only waste your money and time but you'll be very disappointed and your set will probably end up on eBay. It's a collection of the great ideas of western civilization, not simply books that encompass only one subject each.
Astonishing, when you consider the writing and authors span about 2800 years of western thought.The readings include virtually all of the subjects considered the liberal arts: literature of all kinds; philosophy and theology; mathematics and the natural sciences; history, biography and the social sciences; and economics, sociology and anthropology. through mid-20th century's Samuel Beckett. The first volume titled "The Great Conversation" -- updated by the Editor in Chief of The Great Books, Mortimer Adler -- explains why the 60 volume collection is organized as it is and what the three criteria were, established over several years' compilation, for inclusion in the set. Adler and the editors have narrowed what they consider the great ideas of western civilization down to 102. These are original works, dating from Homer in 900-800 B.C. Much of it is difficult reading. If you're not in a college program that uses the Great Books in their curriculum, Adler provides a ten year reading plan for the books in "The Great Conversation." Again, not for the faint of heart, but I guarantee if you manage to get through all 60 books you will truly be educated.As an FYI, I'm currently in what seems to be the sole graduate program in the country that uses only the Great Books in their curriculum. Check out my Amazon profile for some details.
My husband had always wanted this set of books and, thanks to Amazon, I was able to purchase them for almost half the price of new ones. The volumes arrived safely and still wrapped in their original plastic, except for two books, which were in excellent shape.Thanks, Amazon.
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