TGC Ep. 1 | What are the Great Books of the Western World?

[@bayfilly1]

I was blessed to have 2 college philosophy professors who integrated portions of the Great Books and Ad;er's "How To Read A Book" into our daily study and discussion. The volumes--esp Aristotle-- were a bit of a touchstone to which we always deferred. Then last week I stumbled on the entire 54 volume set at an estate auction,,,,,with the custom wood bookcase. Took the lot home for $153. Such a treasure.

[@stretmediq]

I have read the entire first edition of the GBWW. It took me about 30 years. I also have all the Gateway to the Great Books, the Great Ideas Program and the Great Ideas Today but I haven't read all of them. I also have all the Harvard Classics and have read about 3/4 of them

[@stretmediq]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZ_GoIGwirdlq80

[@somme6]

Would you write on the experience of it?

[@stretmediq]

Well my experience of reading the Great Books is complicated. Some were easy and others very difficult. And I question why some were included at all. Especially Rabalais. Gargantua is one of the most vulgar books I've ever read. I also question why some books were left out. For example Sartre. I disagree with him a lot but he is influential. But there are a lot of works not included in the GBWW that can be found in the Harvard Classics including scientific and religious works that are important. But even with these criticisms the Great Books are worth reading because they make you think.

[@greatconversation]

That's awesome! Do you plan on Reading through and finishing the Great Books in the future??

[@stretmediq]

I'm trying to finish the Harvard Classics now but I don't read them exclusively. I'm currently finishing Simon Schama's history of the French revolution "Citizens" and next I will read Pikettey's Capital in the 21st Century then I will decide the next volume of the HC I will read

[@TheMysticsoul108]

I bought the entire encyclopedia Britannica and the great books set in 1981, fresh out of university. Work and earning a living and life has prevented from embarking on the fantastic journey of this wonderful set. Just started reading the first of the Great Books, oh how I wish I could've read this earlier.

[@Barnabas94]

I’m right there with you weaving my very own mental tapestry piece by piece of the intellectual history of man. Great video

[@chiqui-quant]

I've learned of the Great Books of the Western World recently after reading "How to Read a Book" by Mortimer Adler. The job he and Hutchins did is astonishing. Can't wait to get into this reading program. Thank you for sharing your experienceand thoughts and for spreading wisdom :)

[@greatconversation]

I've heard that is a great book and many people discover TGB through it. However we have yet to read it, but I am starting to consider picking up a copy. :) Oh yes. The work those men did here with TGB is truly wonderful. We are in debt to their tireless effort to bring us TGB. So glad you have joined in the Great Conversation with us. Cheers, Ben

[@IurieIasinschi]

I just bought the whole 2nd edition.... My new challenge....I'm part of your conversation...

[@greatconversation]

Welcome aboard! We are excited to have you join the great conversation with us.

[@AlexKillby]

About to get my own set! Out of curiosity what are the physical dimensions of the books? Mainly height when standing vertically? Thanks in advance.

[@carlnoe2]

@@AlexKillbyaccording to Amazon: 60 volumes Individual Volume Size: 9 1/2" H x 1"-2" W (Across Spine) x 6 1/2" D Overall Width of Set: 65"(5'5"). That’s the second edition.

[@brycehowell2560]

Waiting on a set myself!!!🎉

[@joestarnes4823]

Where did you find them?

[@Ozgipsy]

Fantastic guys. Great to find this. I will look through the videos to see how you went. I am thinking of doing an English lit course at 53 years of age 👍

[@greatconversation]

That sounds great! Are you planning on doing this course in person, online, with a school…?

[@Ozgipsy]

@@greatconversation I haven’t worked it out yet. Might have to be online at this stage 👍

[@jojodogface898]

Where can you buy them new? I've googled it over and over and can't find anything

[@TTaylor]

Just subscribed and ordered this set. Enjoyed the video and looking forward to more

[@greatconversation]

Welcome aboard! So stoked you're going to read them with us. We are working on Homer right now!

[@timothywinters1075]

Great video! Thanks for getting me fired up! Looking forward to the Conversation.

[@greatconversation]

We are excited to get you fired up about reading the great books. Thanks for joining the great conversation!

[@NCowick]

Great conversation, no pun intended. This video was suggested to me after I watched another video discussing this set of books, and I think the discussions have convinced me to look into acquiring a set. I was already looking to basically build this type of library myself with individual purchases. Adler's involvement is a plus for me, since I've read some from him and enjoyed it, and the Syntopicon volumes sound like an invaluable resource. I enjoyed the start to this series, and look forward to making my way through your other videos. Hope you continue to see channel growth. These are the videos that deserve way more views and discussion.

[@greatconversation]

Thank you so much for joining the great conversation with us. The great books have been challenging for us, but so rewarding to see our knowledge of the liberal arts grow! Adler and Hutchins did some incredible work creating such an accessible collection of works! Looking forward to seeing more comments from you as you journey through the great books

[@annamariacurrivan6142]

Beautiful discussion! We grew up with these books.

[@pawel1.7.22]

So glad I found this

[@theark.123]

Great effort ! Note that it is Syntopicon not Synopticon please ! 102 ideas are dealt with in detail - brought together from all the great books into essays on an idea or 'topic' - hence the word Syntopicon.

[@robdavies4294]

I have the Syntopicon, 102 essays aligned to 102 great ideas - quite the endeavour! Angel, Animal, Aristocracy to Will, Wisdom, World.

[@bigdaddyburchy]

Just met a man with the full set, as well as a full late 1800’s Britanica Encyclopedia. It was amazing to see knowledge through an older vernacular and comparing it to the American revision. Very happy to have stumbled upon this channel. Don’t stop making these, please.

[@greatconversation]

That's awesome! We are working through Illiad right now. Looking to post a video on it soon.

[@xxxxxxxx455]

This is great , also I got my set at estate sale for about $1 a book. Lots of those deals out there

[@AngelMMX]

A local used bookstore has the entire set, 2nd edition at $550. On a separate note, the channel ThinkingWest is also devoted to the great ideas.

[@greatconversation]

What a steal! We will take a look at that channel. Thanks for sharing. Always great to hear about other channels doing good content.

[@macd7743]

I don't comment here to participate in one-upmanship, but to share my "plunder," if you will, with an audience that I know can appreciate it. I just picked up a mint complete set of the 2nd edition books at a used bookstore for $280! Suffice it to say, I feel like I just won a small lottery. Even still, my partner was giving me a bit of a hard time, but I persevered. 😆 Of course, it goes without saying that a price can't really be put on knowledge, so I'd say it's a win for all who are blessed enough to own such a set of books.

[@MrMrBiggles]

Keep up the great content.😊

[@greatconversation]

Thanks for the encouragement.

[@matthewstanfill9393]

General question about the books. I cannot afford the actual set but I want to read through the ten year plan. Do the works in the books tend to be abridged or are they all complete? The page numbers given sometimes seem a lot less than the actual length.

[@carlnoe2]

How would you write a personal introduction to the Anthropocene epoch?

[@devanandree9725]

Looking forward to it! I am going to have to rent these out from a local library, but I may just stay in the library so I have access to all of the books (very interested in the synopticon references). The production value on these videos are very high for just starting up!

[@greatconversation]

Thanks for tuning in Devan! And thanks for the compliments on the production value.

[@robrich7846]

One minute in and I can already tell I'm going to like this channel!

[@gregmccurry5619]

I got a full set of britanica encyclopedia s on e bay for $291 and a 1990 edition of the great books for $549.

[@greatconversation]

Wow, great finds! That’s exciting.

[@DeusVult7777]

Just bought the whole 2nd edition as well. So little time!

[@greatconversation]

Epic! It's gonna be awesome. We have been committing to ten pages a day and are making steady progress! So glad you joined the great conversation with us.

[@twofingerspirits1479]

Great job. Great idea. Hopefully I can keep up with you. What are drinking in that Glencairn glass?

[@greatconversation]

Thanks for joining us! Koval Rye. It's fantastic.

[@annamariacurrivan6142]

Every edition adds writings and deletes writings so every edition is crucial. Just accept that you cannot take in all of it. Also you don’t read these, you read a line, then stop and think, then read another line. It takes forever. It’s like eating a meal as large as the Universe. I cannot imagine actually editing the the Collection!

[@stuart_h]

Too late to start and join in?

[@human1s]

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[@greatconversation]

:)

[@callum7081]

If this series excluded Marx it would be a perfect list. The brothers Karamazov is a favourite for me.

[@johnmanole4779]

You can't exclude an author or a thinker just because you don't like him. Read him and then argument why you don't like him based on what he wrote!

[@carlnoe2]

@@johnmanole4779 callum wouldn’t sit down and discuss economics with Marx. He’s not the only one, but it’s their loss.

[@roughhabit9085]

I thought they might sound more intelligent.

[@greatconversation]

Thanks for watching! We are doing our best to learn and grow as we read through these books. We want to encourage others to go through them with us. No matter anyone's (including our own) ability or intelligence can join the journey. Cheers, TGC.

[@310cdarren]

@@greatconversation It is highly exhilarating happening across your channel. Having obtained a second edition copy of the Great Books and having completed a master's degree, your first video apprised me of our similar viewpoint toward these books in particular and broader education and scholarship in particular. Therefore, having viewed your initial video, I am going to marathon the others.

[@bibleculture]

Do you guys have a chatroom or discord for this?

[@greatconversation]

We do not, but that is a great idea for the future! For now we encourage everyone to interact in the comments and look forward to something like this to come. 👍

[@TheIgnoredGender]

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