The Syntopicon: An Index to the Great Ideas
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1952, revised 1990
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Length
- Epic · 2400 ppover 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Great Ideas, A Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western WorldEncyclopaedia Britannica, 1990The two-volume second edition, revised to index the expanded sixty-volume set.
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The first two volumes of Great Books of the Western World are not a work of literature but a reference tool. Adler and a staff of indexers spent eight years reading the set and organising it under 102 Great Ideas, from Angel to World. For each idea there is an introductory essay by Adler, an outline of topics, references to passages in every author in the set, cross-references and a bibliography. An appendix on the principles of the Syntopicon explains the method, and Adler's essay The Great Conversation, in Volume 1 of the 1952 edition, states the case for the whole enterprise.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Syntopicon: An Index to the Great Ideas are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.