Great Books

Great Books are foundational texts considered to have profoundly shaped Western culture, intellectual history, and human thought. The concept refers to a canon of works from classical antiquity through the modern era, encompassing philosophy, literature, history, science, and theology. These works are traditionally studied through primary source reading and Socratic seminar discussion, forming the basis of a liberal arts education.

Definition and scope

The term typically denotes a curated collection of seminal writings by major figures from Western civilization. The scope generally begins with ancient texts like Plato's Republic and the epic poems of Homer, extends through the Middle Ages with works by Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, includes Renaissance thinkers such as Niccolò Machiavelli and William Shakespeare, and progresses to modern authors like Isaac Newton, Adam Smith, and Friedrich Nietzsche. While the canon is centered on the Western canon, some modern programs incorporate influential texts from other traditions, such as the Tao Te Ching or the Qur'an. The selection criteria emphasize original works that address perennial questions about justice, truth, beauty, and the human condition.

Historical development

The modern Great Books movement originated in the early 20th century, largely inspired by John Erskine's honors course at Columbia University. This pedagogical model was powerfully advanced by Mortimer J. Adler and Robert Maynard Hutchins at the University of Chicago, who believed studying these texts was essential for cultivating informed citizens. Their efforts led to the compilation of the 54-volume Great Books of the Western World set, published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. in 1952. The movement also found a prominent home at St. John's College, which adopted a dedicated Great Books curriculum in 1937. This educational approach was seen as an antidote to increasing specialization and a means to preserve a common intellectual heritage amidst the upheavals of the World Wars and the Great Depression.

Core lists and curricula

While no single definitive list exists, several influential compilations define the core. The original Syntopicon, an index of ideas created by Mortimer J. Adler, accompanied the 1952 set and helped structure study. St. John's College uses a four-year seminar list that progresses chronologically from Homer and Aeschylus to Albert Einstein and Simone de Beauvoir. Other notable curricula include the Integral Program at Saint Mary's College of California and the Core Curriculum at Columbia University. Many programs share common authors, such as Aristotle, Geoffrey Chaucer, Galileo Galilei, John Locke, Karl Marx, and Virginia Woolf. The Harvard Classics, edited by Charles W. Eliot, served as an earlier, popular five-foot shelf of books intended for self-education.

Educational philosophy and impact

The educational philosophy, often called perennialism, asserts that engaging directly with the most profound ideas in history develops critical thinking, rhetorical skill, and moral reasoning. Proponents like Mortimer J. Adler argued this created a "great conversation" across centuries, connecting students to a continuous dialogue about fundamental truths. The method emphasizes close reading and dialectic discussion over lecture, aiming to produce well-rounded individuals rather than specialized technicians. This approach has significantly influenced American higher education, spawning numerous great books programs at institutions like Notre Dame, Baylor University, and Thomas Aquinas College. It has also inspired public discussion groups, such as those organized by the Aspen Institute, and shaped the homeschooling classical education movement.

Criticism and debate

The Great Books concept has faced sustained criticism, particularly regarding canon formation and cultural representation. Critics, including Edward Said and bell hooks, argue the traditional canon reflects Eurocentrism and excludes contributions from women, people of color, and non-Western cultures, thereby reinforcing cultural hegemony. The debate intensified during the culture wars of the 1980s and 1990s, with figures like Allan Bloom defending the canon in The Closing of the American Mind while others advocated for a more multicultural curriculum. Additional critiques question the viability of a single canon in a pluralistic society and challenge the notion of objective cultural literacy. In response, many modern programs have expanded their reading lists to include works by authors like W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Frantz Fanon, seeking to broaden the "great conversation" while maintaining the core pedagogical method.

Category:Liberal arts Category:Western culture Category:Educational curricula