A Reading Bucket List

    It seems that the phrase "bucket list" is hanging around. I will hear folks of all ages mention adding something to the bucket list. Reading Stringfellow Barr's Voices That Endured: The Great Books and the Active Life, it dawned on me that people should have a "Reading Bucket List." Everyone should make a list of those very important books that they really want to read before they die. The wonderful thing about a list like that is that people do not have to make elaborate plans or dip deep into the savings account to see this list unfold.
     Barr insightfully divides his reading list book into three categories: (1) Books that picture humans working, choosing, and acting, such as poems and novels. (2) Books that seek to know the nature of things such as mathematical and scientific works, (3) Books that deal with what humans ought to do, such as works of ethics, politics, and economics. These three categories show how very practical and relevant are these great books.
     Stringfellow Barr is the genius behind St. John's College where everyone studies primarily the great books for four years. The reality is that only a handful of people will ever have the opportunity to study the great books in a college or university setting. That is just fine. Mortimer Adler has spoken about "the poor man's Harvard education." It is a fact that if you set out to read ten, twenty, or one hundred of the most important books ever written, you would learn more than many college graduates learn. If you are a college student, do not let college get in the way of an excellent education. Make your bucket list now and start reading, learning, growing and get the best sort of education.
     Why would anyone ever set out to read the Great Books? Stringfellow Barr says, that when it gets right down to it that the things that really pass through our sleepless minds and haunt our dreams are the thoughts about how we have wronged friends. We also are seeking courage to face the next hurdle in life. We humans constantly grapple with loss, fears, frustration, guilt, shame, happiness, joy, resentment, despair, and hope. These are the themes of the great books and partly what makes them great. An active life is a reading life. A life that looks to the works that have shaped many who have come before us and will come after us.
     I love reading and I really love reading with others. Talking about books, ideas, and the sheer delights of reading is one of the finest of human pleasures. Whether I am conversing with students in a class, my wife at breakfast, or people online with Google Helpouts, it is a joy to talk about books and the ways they enrich our lives.
     In these blogs, I will explore the great books of literature, philosophy, history, science, mathematics, and social science. I am not alone. I have guides like Stringfellow Barr, Mortimer Adler, Robert Hutchins, Alan Jacobs, Os Guinness, Virginia Woolf, Matthew Arnold, Sainte-Beuve, Percy Shelley, Samuel Johnson, T.S. Eliot, C.S. Lewis, and many others. In addition to reading and offering thoughts and questions, I will also give lots and lots of tips on wisely reading all sorts of things. I invite you to join me in this making of a bucket reading list and participate in the active life of reading the great books.

NEXT BLOG: Virginia Woolf's How Should One Read a Book?
   

A Case for the Quaint: Mortimer Adler and The Great Ideas Program

     Studying and leading conversations on the Great Books for more than twenty years still produces that sense of awe and wonder, especially when I discover a new tool to aide in the exploration of wisdom.  Unfortunately, this excitement is often curtailed when I engage many of those within the academy. Once, an educationist from our Education Department, with arms folded humphed at me the term "perennialist" which he meant pejoratively, but which I heard as praise. More than once, I have seen the term "quaint" applied to what we do in our Great Books based programs. Of course, the secularists and dehumanized masses deem these writings down right dangerous. It is the notion of being quaint that I seek to ponder for a bit.

     The term quaint, like perennialist, traditional, and related terms are often uttered with contempt today, but these terms have meaning that call for reconsideration. While quaint can be used in a dismissive manner, quaint can also mean attractively unusual or charmingly odd. Spending a bit more time with quaint, we discover that this word's history has good company and was associated with cunning, well-informed, knowledgeable, clever, elaborate, skillful and even old-fashioned but charming. With this in mind, I share with you, some parts of a quaint tool that accompanied The Great Ideas Program first published in 1959. Keep in mind that the booklet, The Great Ideas Program Family Participation Plan for Reading the Great Books of the Western World, was published in that same 1959. As I read this I kept thinking how far we have "progressed" regarding education and the family in the past fifty some years.   

     Entitled "A confidential memorandum" from Robert Hutchins to parents "regarding being educated by your children," the words in this "memorandum" are most assuredly quaint. "Yours is a literate home because you are a literate people. And you are literate people not only because you read great books, but also because you are interested in great ideas. Literacy  of course, involves far more than merely the ability to read and write. Many people are not literate, in the full sense of the word, who can read and write very well. The kind of literacy that means something, however, is the kind that produces intelligent thought and action. 
     It is this kind of literacy that you want your children to have. Unfortunately, their chances of acquiring it in the school today are small and may become smaller if schools become more narrowly technical and vocational. 
     This is one of the prime reasons for your ownership of Great Books and your enrollment in the Great Ideas Program. Certainly other sets of books are decorative, and you might have purchased them. But you didn't buy just books. Instead you bought a family home education program that will effectively help you to have a literate home environment for the care and formation of literate children. 
     This first memorandum was followed by "a very confidential memorandum" to the children in this family, also from Robert Maynard Hutchins. "This is a conspiracy to get you to do some reading and thinking. It is based on the assumption that you believe you don't like books, and this assumption is false. You may not like the books that you have been given to read. They are mostly textbooks, and often textbooks are not good books. As yet you probably haven't had a chance to learn how interesting good books can be.
     Your parents are now enrolled in the Great Ideas Program and are proud owners of the Great Books – the best books ever written. They have every intention of reading them. (They read some of them when they were your age, and one of the sure signs of a great book is that one who has read it wants to reread it.) The trouble is that your parents may insist that they have no time. You can help them by making them take time to read these books. Of course you must play a trick on them, for the way to help is to make them read and discuss the books with you. This is the kind of program that you will enjoy participating in, and these are the kind of books you will enjoy reading. Also, this Plan and its accompanying Personal Consultation Service will answer practically any questions your parents may ask that you can't answer. Don't be afraid to use the services. 
     One thing is sure. These are readings that you will benefit from all the rest of your lives – just as young people have done for hundreds of years before you. These are not the easiest books you have ever read; but I can assure you that they are the most interesting.
     I know you're busy. But you will be even busier later on. Take my advice – don't wait. 
     The teachers cannot make you wise – much as they would like to – because these books are seldom read in school. You will have to help yourself, and here is one chance to do so. The world is going to belong to you, but it is a hard world. You will need to know everything you can to get along and to understand at least some of it. Through this Plan and the Great Ideas Program, the wisdom of the world lies open to you – just waiting for you to tap it. I envy you.

     More than fifty years since these words circulated, we have advanced to the place of wide-spread ignorance--a level of mass educational trendiness that is stupefying.  Of course the American family today is not sitting around reading the Great Books and discussing the Great ideas. Whatever family means today, if sitting around, it is likely absorbed in this season's sitcom. The need for what is quaint is strong in our common and ordinary day. The old-fashioned may indeed rescue us from our abyss of the drab, dull, cutting-edge, and up-to-date. 

Wrecked Upon The Reef of Justice: The Most Relevant Oresteia by Aeschylus

   I was talking with a friend a few days ago, and he asked me what I thought about a particular news story. He was surprised when I responded that I knew a good bit less than him, and he seemed even more surprised as I was describing with what he considered a high level of apathy. Despite my best efforts to persuade him that the most recent "news" event or political scandal about unlawful government actions toward its citizens, current wave of political  or social propaganda, government sideshow, national media silliness, or Presidential diversion was far less engaging and meaningless than the extremely engaging and meaningful Oresteia by Aeschylus. So, I urge you as I urged my friend, make a conscious decision to be a liberated citizen and step away from the noise and the confining distortions of this particular moment, and be free to think about important issues in an equally important manner. I guaranteed him that reading the Great Books will give him a way to look at the distortions, perversions, and social atrocities with eyes that truly see and ears that clearly hear. So, let me encourage you to read the Oresteia and make your way through these questions provided by Mortimer Adler.

I. Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Choephoroe, and Eumenides

• Was justice done to Orestes?
• Did Orestes act justly?
• Was Orestes just in killing his mother, avenging his father, obeying the command of Apollo, and/or killing Aegisthus?
• Did Clytaemnestra act justly?
• Was Clytaemnestra just in killing her husband, revenging the death of her daughter Iphigenia, and/or being unfaithful to her husband?
• Did Apollo act justly in urging Orestes to kill Clytaemnestra?
• Did Athena act justly in casting her vote for Orestes?
• Did the Furies act justly?
• Were the Furies just in pursuing Orestes, in not pursuing Electra or Clytaemnestra after she killed her husband, and/or in resting satisfied with the judgment of the Athenian court, as the result of Athena’s persuasion and flattery?
• What if you substitute the word “justly” for “lawfully”?
• Is lex talionis, the law of retribution and revenge, really a law?
• Is human law placed above divine law?
• In terms of what law are you judging the justice of the verdict?
• What do you think of the court procedure?
• Does the court follow the rules and customs that are used in British or American courts?
• First of all, is the court duly constituted?
• How can one decide what “duly constituted” would mean?
• Is there any assurance that this was a fair jury?
• Is the existence of law a good or an evil?
• Are Agamemnon, Clytaemnestra, and Orestes better off because they live in a lawless condition, or anarchy?
• Is there a sense in which men are freer in a civil society, with laws, than they are in a lawless condition?
• Is that society best which has the most laws?
• Is the best society halfway between the extremes of anarchy and regulating everything by laws?

Montaigne's The Essays

     This reading is from Montaigne's The Essays.  Mortimer Adler says that spontaneous interest seems simply that of an explorer and to him nothing human is foreign or strange (99).   Adler also says this is the characteristic of Montaigne's special brand of skepticism and tolerance.  It challenges us as does the faith of St. Augustine and the devotion of Socrates to the pursuit of truth.  For those who believe that there is such a thing as TRUTH, should not fear in any way the devout pursuit for truth.    
     Adler, speaks of this end in terms of suspended judgment.  One question that Adler asks is this what kind of riding is the essay why did Montanio adopt this particular literary form he speaks of this intensely personal character ballhandler speaks about Montania's motivation in terms of leisurely speculation one can see there is more going on here in this ultimately we encounter Mantegna the skeptic page 103 
     no view is to be taken for granted simply because custom and received opinion favorite we see in this work she tools of persuasion also recognized despite Montanio's intellect. He is not a philosopher we should think of him as being in line with the modern social scientist who observes reflects and comments some questions that after opposes our import are all customs equally good 105 on page 106 ever asked this question is custom itself responsible for what we consider good or bad. 
     What gives us the opinion concerning good and evil? How does this position effect moral judgment can we say for example that a person who practices racial or religious discrimination in a society or area where such practices cost Mera customer is guilty of anything have we any ground in this beautiful condemning the communist and a communist contrary to the Nazi and about to country the hell does the view that custom determines the judgments of good and evil have any effect on the question whether accustom itself can be good or evil field greens with Montanya's view that philosophy should be studied by the young there are for good questions that Adler asked on page 408. Why should only 15 or 16 years be given over to education does not make more sense to say that a man's education is never finished except in the accidental sense of his having finish certain formal requirements is not more flossy fully understandable only to the person who has experience the full range of moral dilemmas that is the adult and for what are the plane. Will this courses that Mantegna recommends for starting one key point that Adler makes is at the whole difficulty of moral education is not learn rules and maxims but you know how to apply another question ever asked how valid is Montagne argument that good and evil depend on opinion what does this argument prove there a number of excellent insights that Adler offers in reaction to a response to Montagne you some good insights from unchaining himself finally at Erastus does the essay title didn't say anything more than that the opinion of good and evil depends in a great measure upon the opinion we have of them

The Declaration of Independence: The Great Ideas Program

Gulliver'sTravels: The Great Ideas Program

     It is difficult, for different reasons, to read some of the Great Books. One reason it is challenging is because they have been so altered by other forms such as television shows or movies. Possibly the best example would be Jonathan Swift's, always relevant, Gulliver's Travels. Adler says of the Great Books that, "these books contribute to the worth of the individual life by increasing personal self-knowledge.  The injunction to 'know-thyself' may be a counsel of wisdom for the human race as a whole as well as for the individual man." (137)   
     I think Adler says this because he recognizes Jonathan Swift's classic of satire as a great way of helping us to know ourselves as particular people, and the human condition in general.  I do know of Jonathan Swift's Lilliputians both in the work Gulliver's Travels and in my daily life! Adler uses some of the following adjectives to speak of Jonathan Swift's work, "satirical, biting, bitter, savage, merciless, mocking, contemptuous, misanthropic." (139)   
     Long debated is what exactly Jonathan Swift is attempting to do in this work.  No doubt, part of what he was doing was looking very carefully and critically at the age in which he lived.  Certainly, we could apply some of his insights to our age.  Noteworthy is his criticism of education and scholarship, although some of his sharpest barbs are for politics and politicians.  After reading this dark literary delight and turning to the modern academy and our political milieu, one could speculate that Swift used divination to look into the future.   Adler makes a key point that there are times where Swift moves from satire to hatred, (142) and this is where the Christian reader ought to tread cautiously.  


A few questions for reflection when reading Gulliver's Travels:
1) What are some of the similarities and differences between satire and tragedy?
2) What of the four parts of Gulliver's Travel's is most successful?

Concerning Civil Government (Second Essay) John Locke

     In a time such as ours, it is wise to be politically well read. As a matter of fact, it might be best to turn off the "debates" and Presidential State of the Re-election Speech and read a Classical document on government. One great starting place, to be more informed is John Lock's Concerning Civil Government: The Second Essay.      
     Mortimer Adler does a great job of introducing this important political work and its historical context within The Great Ideas Program. He points out that Locke was not the first to articulate the notion of "social contract."  Adler, adds also there are great differences between the views of Hobbes and Locke on the origin of the state.  Adler compares Hobbes, Locke and Aristotle showing, that for some, the state of nature was rather dark.  However, Locke's view of the state of nature was not as bleak. (120)   "Hobbes thinks of the state of nature as one of war and brutishness, Locke thinks of it as a state of liberty." (127)  However, according to John Locke, there are distinct disadvantages of the state of nature (129).  It is clear that property is very important in Locke's political theory.  By property,  Locke means private property.  One can only imagine Locke's reaction to one's labor being taxed.  
     Adler does another service for the reader by connecting Aristotle's notion of humans being political animals to what John Locke is examining. For Locke, we are political animals because "we possess speech and reason." (131) The other advantage to reading Adler's brief introduction to this work is that he includes interpretive questions.  These are the kinds of questions that would cause current American political figures to lose sleep.  With teleprompters off, it would get very ugly, very fast.
     Some questions that Adler asks,
1) Aristotle said that the political state is natural,  Locke says that the natural condition of man is that in which he existed prior to the origin of the state. What is the reason for this difference?
2) Does a social contract theory require us to believe that there actually was a time when men believed in the state of nature?
3) Are sovereign nations in a state of nature?
4) Since, according to social contract theories,  a state is formed by the consent of all those who were in a state of nature, must a government of a civil society also be based on consent, i.e., must it be constitutional?
5) What, if anything, is the significance of substituting "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" for "life, liberty and estates" in the enumeration of natural rights?
6) Were the writers of the Declaration of Independence any less believers in the right of estates (i.e., private property) than Locke?
7) Why should property be represented at all?
   You can see why I believe that turning off the political noise, reading this work, and then thinking through these questions would be of far greater benefit.  It may also shock us into seeing that the issues and ideas of Locke and the Founding Fathers have been set aside for the agenda of a massive federal government that is bloated to the point of self-destruction, and all the while property is still a major issue.

Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall Of the Roman Empire

     I would like to begin by encouraging everyone to read, as a way of corrective to Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Christopher Dawson's essay, "Edward Gibbon and the Fall of Rome."  Contrary to Gibbon, Dawson recognized that, in the history of the the Western world, there is no more momentous occurrence than the spread of Christianity.  It is this event which gives social and political meaning to the division of history into B.C. and A.D.
     Adler, in his introduction to the Gibbon's reading, argues that the replacement of paganism by Christendom represents a profound, perhaps the most profound, change in the moral and spiritual character of western life as it revolutionized society and human life.
     It certainly seems very intentional that Adler begins his reflections of Gibbon's writing in this manner particularly because he points out Gibbon's general skepticism.  Adler also recognizes that it is an unfair and indeed an unwise procedure to speak in any summary manner about such a work of such a massive scale.   With a work so large in scope, by reading just a few chapters of that work could easily lead to misreadings.  Adler selected the portion he did because he points out that the Roman emperors during the first 200 years of Christianity are worth understanding.  Adler, also encourages the readers who are reading Gibbon's massive work  to read the works of history by Tacitus and Livy.  I believe that Adler did this as additional corrective to Gibbon. 
     It is indeed striking to realize that from 180 A.D. to 323 A.D. there were twenty-five emperors. Adler makes it pretty clear that Gibbon's attitude towards Christianity is indeed less than friendly and objective.   However, Adler states that Gibbon does not hide this bias (154). 
     Some questions that Adler encourages us to consider as we make our way through this work. 
1) How does the rise of Christianity relate to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire?
2) Is Gibbon a determinist in his view of history?
3) Does Gibbon seem to think that history moves in a pattern that is unchangeable according to laws of its own nature so that it accomplishes its own end?
4) What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Christian religion?

Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics

If within the course of your college education, most of your professors do not begin the semester with some reference to Aristotle and our collective indebtedness to him then you are being cheated and chances are your "very learned" professor was also cheated. Here is a listing of Aristotle's writings that would still be worth your time to read and then I will briefly address his Nicomachean Ethics.

Categories; On Interpretation; Prior Analytics; Posterior Analytics; Topics; Sophistical Refutations; Physics; On the Heavens; On Generation and Corruption; Meteorology; On the Soul; On Sense and and the Sensible, On Memory; On Sleep; On Dreams; On Divination in Sleep; On Length and Shortness of Life; On Youth, Old Age, Life and Death, and Respiration; History of Animals; Parts of Animals; Movement of Animals; Progression of Animals; Generation of Animals; Metaphysics; Nicomachean Ethics; Eudemian Ethics; Politics; Rhetoric; Poetics

It surprised me when I first read Aristotle's Ethics and it surprises my Great Books students year after year that this ancient Greek philosopher starts with the question of happiness in his writing on ethics. It no longer surprises me, but still surprises them that he also spends a great deal of time discussing friendship in his writing about ethics.

Adler asks, related to Aristotle's Ethics, "Why does happiness involve a complete life"? (45) In Book One of Aristotle's Ethics it states, "For assuredly he who possesses great store of riches is no nearer happiness than he who has enough for his daily needs. For many of the wealthiest men have been unfavoured of fortune, and many whose means were moderate have had excellent luck. The wealthy man, it is true, is better able to content his desires, and bear up against sudden calamity. The man of moderate means has less ability to withstand these evils, from which, however, his good luck may keep him clear. If so, he enjoys all these following blessings: he is whole of limb, a stranger to disease, free from misfortune, happy in his children, and comely to look upon. If in addition to all this, he ends his life well, he is truly the man who may rightly be termed happy. Call him, however, until he die, not happy but fortunate."

Maybe part of the reason is that Aristotle, always with the end (telos) in mind, recognizes that like any event, it is best to judge if it was "good" at the end when you can look back on the whole. Many a person has certainly declared "I am happy" and later declared "I am miserable". One needs to also note the way in which Aristotle connects, happiness, goodness, and the good life.

Translations:
I have come to greatly appreciate the following translators and their respective translations:
-Joe Sachs
-Terence Irwin
-Jonathan Barnes
-W.D. Ross