The Synopticon I: An Index to the Great Ideas

by Mortimer J. Adler (Editor), Clifton Fadiman (Associate Editor), Philip W. Goetz (Associate Editor)

1082 pages - A Syntopicon I - Angel to Love

Genres: Philosophy, History, Classics, Reference, Literature, Nonfiction, Education

832 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Numerous published works of American educator and philosopher Mortimer Jerome Adler include How to Read a Book (1940) and The Conditions of Philosophy (1965).

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.

Born to Jewish immigrants, he dropped out school at 14 years of age in 1917 to a copy boy for the New York Sun with the ultimate aspiration to a journalist. Adler quickly returned to school to take writing classes at night and discovered the works of Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and other men, whom he came to call heroes. He went to study at Columbia University and contributed to the student literary magazine, The Morningside, (a poem "Choice" in 1922 when Charles A. Wagner was editor-in-chief and Whittaker Chambers an associate editor). Though he failed to pass the required swimming test for a bachelor's degree (a matter that was rectified when Columbia gave him an honorary degree in 1983), he stayed at the university and eventually received an instructorship and finally a doctorate in psychology. While at Columbia University, Adler wrote his first book: Dialectic, published in 1927.

In 1930 Robert Hutchins, the newly appointed president of the University of Chicago, whom Adler had befriended some years earlier, arranged for Chicago’s law school to hire him as a professor of the philosophy of law; the philosophers at Chicago (who included James H. Tufts, E.A. Burtt, and George H. Mead) had "entertained grave doubts as to Mr. Adler's competence in the field [of philosophy]" and resisted Adler's appointment to the University's Department of Philosophy. Adler was the first "non-lawyer" to join the law school faculty. Adler also taught philosophy to business executives at the Aspen Institute.

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.

Adler long strove to bring philosophy to the masses, and some of his works (such as How to Read a Book) became popular bestsellers. He was also an advocate of economic democracy and wrote an influential preface to Louis Kelso's The Capitalist Manifesto. Adler was often aided in his thinking and writing by Arthur Rubin, an old friend from his Columbia undergraduate days. In his own words:

Unlike many of my contemporaries, I never write books for my fellow professors to read. I have no interest in the academic audience at all. I'm interested in Joe Doakes. A general audience can read any book I write—and they do.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortimer...

Reviews

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first volume of the Synopticon shows that the Great Books talk about two main concerns: the definitions of fundamental concepts and the reasons why we behave as we do.

The Great Ideas are the ideas that are common in many of the Great Books. The Synopticon gives an introductory essay on each topic, a guide to readings within the Great Books on that topic, and a list of additional readings that aren't included in the Great Books.

As you can see from the number and diversity of books I've rated and reviewed on Goodreads, I'm a prolific and eclectic reader. Reading the Synopticon showed me that most of the concepts I take for granted every day had to be thought through and shaped into a workable practice. I've come away feeling less certain in what I know about anything.

This book and all of the Great Books are for every person who lives in Western cultures.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of being in an elite club, being a consummate elitist, myself - and not many clubs exist in the world today more elite than the "People Who Have Read the Syntopicon" Club, and it feels good to be in it (at least half-way). This is an ironic thing to say about this book, considering it was created for one of the least elite entities in the world: The Great Books of the Western World. Despite what people say, the GBotWW was intended to be for every person, the exact opposite of elitism. Why some people fault Adler and Hutchins and Co. for trying to provide a classical education to the people at a reasonable price is ... not beyond me. We all know why they fault Adler and Hutchins and Co. The Syntopicon bears a great deal of the brunt of the ignominy, which is more unclear to me - I suspect people ridicule it without having read it. Perhaps the list of references is somewhat slanted and perhaps incomplete, but that isn't even the real utility of this resource. The introductory essays about each topic are fantastic. The further reading lists are likewise invaluable. There's a great chance you may have never heard of some of them before ... but that tells us more about the state of education today than it does the quality or value of the works themselves. It's a commitment to work through it, but it's a far more painful commitment avoiding the ideas here and the GBotWW and thus dooming one's life to mental putrescence. Get a set of the Great Books and start reading - and don't skip the Syntopicon.

[David Withun · Rating 5 out of 5]

-

[Ron Banister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great method of accessing the Great Books of the Western World.

[John Waldrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been a Christian for forty-six years, I recently began reading the Great Books, even though they were given to me by R. J. more than thirty-five years ago. I remember it as though it was yesterday. We stood in his driveway and I saw the set inside his garage. I asked him if he knew what the set was and he said, "No, my late mother bought them and never read them." I asked if he wanted them and he said, "No." "Can I have them?" I asked. He responded, "Are they worth a lot?" I said, "They are worth a great deal." He smiled and said, "They're yours."
I only now have begun to read the Great Books because I am a presuppositionalist, presupposing the Bible to be the Word of God. The Bible reveals the nonbeliever's thought processes to be thoroughly corrupted by indwelling sin. Now, 40+ years into my Christian life, I am wiling to take on the Great Books with a view toward scrutinizing the flaws and shortcomings of the most brilliant minds of the Western world.
After reading Volume I of the Syntopicon (volume II) of the Great Books set, I find my reading so far to have profited me. However, I would caution anyone reading this set to be on guard concerning the great flaw of the set. The editors of the Syntopicon are guilty of moral equivalency, handling the Biblical treatment of subjects and the geniuses they have collected as if the views expressed are equally valid, or equally worth consideration. Not True!
God's Word is true because God is true. Keeping that in mind will profit every reader.

[Ci · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors indicate several ways to use this book, either as a reference (which is most likely), or as independent readings. Given its gravity and contents, I will use as reference when certain ideas become critical in other readings.

[Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can not really say that you finished this book which is 50% references. I reviewed a topic each day while also checking wiki and youtube for the same. Interesting journey. See volume II for a more detailed review.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting and thought provoking intro to the books in the set, but also very dated.

[Dave McCracken]

A superb introduction to the Great Ideas and canon of Western Civilisation. The Syntopicon is an amalgamation of every known Great Work and the Authors discussion or remarks & comments on the Great Ideas. Each essay is an approx 10-page long essay discussing the various definitions of the term starting with the ancients to the 19th Century and exploring every angle possible of the given subject. Additionally, an "Outline of Topics" is provided that explores every conceivable inquiry approach followed by a listing of references of every mention of the particular subject as found throughout the Great Books and Western Canon including a list of Cross-References, and finally a list of additional readings recommended outside the Great Books.
Syntopicon Volume I
Essay Topics (51):
Angel, Animal, Aristocracy, Art, Astronomy $ Cosmosology, Beauty, Being, Cause, Chance, Change, Citizen, Constitution, Courage, Custom & Convention, Definition, Democracy, Desire, Dialectic, Duty, Education, Element, Emotion, Eternity, Evolution, Experience, Family, Fate, Form, God, Good & Evil, Government, Habit, Happiness, History, Honor, Hypothesis, Idea, Immortality, Induction, Infinity, Judgement, Justice, Knowledge, Labor, Language, Law, Liberty, Life & Death, Logic, Love.

[Pablo María Fernández · Rating 2 out of 5]

En el prefacio el autor habla del aspecto de iniciación, de sugestión e de instrucción del Syntopicon. Su aspiración era la siguiente: así como los diccionarios son indispensables en el reino de las palabras, las enciclopedias en el reino de los hechos, el Syntopicon debería convertirse en el indispensable en el reino de las ideas. No ocurrió eso ni mucho menos, y hoy es una rareza que pocos recuerdan. Las críticas apuntaron a su visión utilitaria de las obras como depósitos de ideas a extraer con método científico sin tener en cuenta la experiencia estética y la construcción intelectual más sutil que no se da en un párrafo sino a lo largo de todo un libro y hasta en la obra entera de un autor. Leyendo algunas de las ciento dos entradas temáticas del libro creo que además -si bien el concepto del libro es atractivo- en la práctica resulta engorroso para el principiante y tedioso y poco útil al más avanzado. En mi caso lo más interesante fue tomarlo en clave de registro de una época analizando el tipo de ideas, de autores y de criterios que plantea.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute `must read´ for anyone with a hint of intellectual ambition.

[Cage Englander · Rating 5 out of 5]

It does what it says it will. It gives a comprehensive primer on classics concepts before you delve into the rest of the set. On to #2!

[Carlos Montijo]

(c) 1952 edition is better since it includes Author‘s Book Titles and Divisions.

[Alex Mendoza]

About to embark on the reading of the great books, starting here.

My plan is to initially skim through all 60 books, followed by buying the physical version of each to take notes and analyze the ideas more deeply.

Will leave reviews as I go, and if need be.