Length: 699 Words Reading Time: 3 Minutes
Reading and Learning about the Great Ideas. I waited too late in life to engage in serious conversations and to study and learn about the great ideas and the important things in life. From my current vantage point at 76 years of age, I see that I should have started much sooner.
I remember when my father purchased “The Great Books of the Western World” in 54 volumes for my two brothers and me sometime in the early 1950s. My father had always encouraged us to read. He brought home books that he had bought from the book bins in front of Leary’s Bookstore on 9th Street in downtown Philadelphia. I believe my father knew at the time how vital reading was, and he saw the Great Books as a significant step in that direction in improving our reading. Sadly, we disappointed him for the most part regarding the Great Books.
I skimmed many of the 54 Great Books over my childhood years, but they were very intimidating to me at the time. The books were printed in a small font and were not easy to read. I have always been very aware of the font used by various book publishers. I recognized later in life that specific fonts were much easier for me to read than others. I have settled on Palatino as my favorite and use it in my writings much of the time.
Looking back on those growing-up years in Philadelphia, I realize now how grave a mistake I made in not reading the Great Books when I had the chance. I have always been a reader since my earliest memory, but most of what I read was really fluff and not very challenging. I have only come to understand when I turned 70 that I had wasted a lot of my valuable reading time.
The best place to start learning about the great ideas and the important things in life is to begin reading the Great Books. I am given to understand that a reading plan of ten years is required to complete the Great Books. I suspect the number of years has now increased because the latest edition of the Great Books now stands at 60 volumes.
Dr. Mortimer Adler and his Great Books team have also provided excellent tools to help us read and understand the Great Books. They wrote the Syntopicon, which outlines in essay form the 102 Great Ideas that are the core knowledge of the Great Books.
I have begun reading Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, and Augustine, but time is fleeting, and the reading road is long. I hope to be finished in 2028 when I turn 85.
Reading is the easy part, though, because I have that under my control. Finding serious conversations is much more challenging, at least for me. Discourse in America continues to be dumbed down by television and the emphasis on sports and games, and Americans are not engaging in serious conversations for the most part. That is sad because we have many serious issues that need serious discussions. If we do not have serious conversations, minus the emotional drama so prevalent in our national discourse, then I am not sure we can survive as a free society.
My sense is that reading has gone out of style. How do we bring it back? My call to action for my readers is to go back to the Great Books and read them, and then, start engaging in serious conversations. I believe you will be surprised by how much fun you will have.
A Caveat for My Blog Readers: My emphasis regarding the Great Books of the Western World is not meant to disrespect or denigrate the great intellectual traditions of other cultures. I believe there is also much wisdom to be gained from the great civilizations of China, India, Japan, and the Middle East, and others as well. My recommendation is to start with the Great Books because that is our direct heritage and then move on to other cultures in the fullness of time. My personal favorites are the Chinese Civilization and the traditions of Japan.