The Dream of a Democratic Culture: Mortimer J. Adler and the Great Books Idea

by Tim Lacy

This book presents a moderately revisionist history of the great books idea anchored in the following movements and fighting anti-intellectualism, advocating for the liberal arts, distributing cultural capital, and promoting a public philosophy, anchored in mid-century liberalism, that fostered a shared civic culture.

Genres: Education, Books About Books

333 pages, Hardcover

First published November 19, 2013

Reviews

[Anne Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tim Lacy's The Dream of a Democratic Culture is a thoroughly researched, thoroughly compelling account of the Great Books movement in the twentieth century, with a focus on one of its most central and most controversial proponents, Mortimer Adler. I found the last chapters dealing with the last years of Adler's career, including the "canon wars" at Stanford, Adler's frequent media appearances, and his offensive pronouncements about African-American writers to be informative and fair-handed.

[Doctor VanNostrum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Replete with interesting anecdotes and interpretations of the work of Adler and others connected with The Great Books. Very detailed. Dense material.

[MarkGrabe Grabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this history of Adler and the concept of a list of the greatest books interesting. I am not a fan of “the canon”, but value time spent considering diverse ideas. The various reactions to Adler and his list were a way to examine my own thinking on culture, education, and knowledge.

[m · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book.

I stumbled upon this book (128,000 words) while searching the web for info about the relationship between Adler and Allan Bloom — a subject that Lacy covers in depth in chapter 8 of this book (14,400 words, 66 footnotes).

Anyone wanting a description of this book should read Lacy's interview (3,300 words) with Inside Higher Education:

https://archive.ph/WF5zl

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/...