THE GREAT IDEAS

A Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World

MORTIMER J. ADLER, Editor in Chief WILLIAM GORMAN, General Editor

VOLUME I

WILLIAM BENTON, Publisher ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, INC. CHICAGO - LONDON - TORONTO

COPYRIGHT IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1952, BY ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, INC.

COPYRIGHT 1952. COPYRIGHT UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT UNION BY ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED UNDER PAN AMERICAN COPYRIGHT CONVENTIONS BY ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA, INC.

GENERAL CONTENTS

VOLUME I

VOLUME II

PREFACE

I. THE NATURE OF THE SYNTOPICON

By calling this work “a Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World,” the editors hope to characterize its nature, to indicate the function it performs in relation to the set as a whole, and to assert its originality as an intellectual instrument. The relation of these two volumes of The Great Ideas to the rest of the set is the key to the nature of the Syntopicon and its originality as an instrument. Apart from this relation, The Great Ideas, though to some extent readable in itself, does not perform the function for which it was created—to show that the 443 works which comprise Volumes 4 to 54 can be seen and used as something more than a collection of books.

The great books are pre-eminently those which have given the western tradition its life and light. The unity of this set of books does not consist merely in the fact that each member of it is a great book worth reading. A deeper unity exists in the relation of all the books to one tradition, a unity shown by the continuity of the discussion of common themes and problems. It is claimed for this set of great books that all the works in it are significantly related to one another and that, taken together, they adequately present the ideas and issues, the terms and topics, that have made the western tradition what it is. More than a collection of books, then, this set is a certain kind of whole that can and should be read as such.

The Great Ideas results from and records such a reading of the great books. The aim of this “syntopical reading” was to discover the unity and continuity of western thought in the discussion of common themes and problems from one end of the tradition to the other. The Syntopicon does not reproduce or present the results of this reading in a digest to save others the trouble of reading the great books for themselves. On the contrary, it only lays down the lines along which a syntopical reading of the great books can be done, and shows why and how it should be done. The various uses of the Syntopicon, described in Section III of this Preface, all derive from its primary purpose—to serve as a guide to the reading of Great Books of the Western World as a unified whole.

The lines along which a syntopical reading of the great books can and should be done are the main lines of the continuous discussion that runs through the thirty centuries of western civilization. This great conversation across the ages is a living organism whose structure the Syntopicon tries to articulate. It tries to show the many strands of this conversation between the greatest minds of western civilization on the themes which have concerned men in every epoch, and which cover the whole range of man’s speculative inquiries and practical interests. To the extent that it succeeds, it reveals the unity and continuity of the western tradition.

It was with these considerations in mind that the editors called The Great Ideas a syntopicon of the great books—literally, a collection of the topics which are the main themes of the conversation to be found in the books. A topic is a subject of discussion. It is a place at which minds meet—to agree or disagree, but at least to communicate with one another about some common concern. Just as a number of minds, or what they have to say, can be related by their relevance to a common theme, so a number of topics can be related by their relevance to a common term—a single concept or category which generates a number of problems or themes for discussion. Hence the Syntopicon is organized, first, by a listing of the ideas that are the important common terms of discussion; and, then, by an enumeration of the topics that are the various particular points about which the discussion of each of these ideas revolves.

The full title of this work—The Great Ideas, a Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World—thus indicates not only that its structure consists of terms and topics, but also that it functions as a guide to the great books from which its terms and topics are drawn. But the title may fail to indicate another equally important function which the Syntopicon performs when it is taken together with the great books. By serving as a guide to the syntopical reading of the great books, it does more than transform them from a mere collection of books into a unified whole; it transforms them into a new kind of encyclopaedic whole—a new kind of reference library. Without in any way interfering with all the values the great books have as books to be read individually, the Syntopicon gives them the further utility of a unified reference library in the realm of thought and opinion.

Because of the traditional and proved importance of the thought and opinion contained in the great books, the Syntopicon, in the editors’ opinion, creates an intellectual instrument which is comparable to, though quite distinct from, the dictionary and the encyclopaedia. The dictionary is a basic reference work in the sphere of language. The general encyclopaedia is a basic reference work in the sphere of fact, concerned with all matters ascertainable in the present state of historical and scientific knowledge. The Syntopicon—these two volumes taken together with the rest of the set—is a basic reference work in the sphere of ideas, comprehending the wisdom and understanding accumulated thus far in all major fields of inquiry. As its utility is realized, it will, the editors hope, take its place beside the dictionary and the encyclopaedia in a triad of fundamental reference works.

II. THE STRUCTURE OF THE SYNTOPICON

The Great Ideas consists of 102 chapters, each of which provides a syntopical treatment of one of the basic terms or concepts in the great books. As the Table of Contents indicates, the chapters are arranged in the alphabetical order of these 102 terms or concepts: from ANGEL to LOVE in Volume I, and from MAN to WORLD in Volume II.

Following the chapter on WORLD, there are two appendices. Appendix I is a Bibliography of Additional Readings. Appendix II is an essay on the Principles and Methods of Syntopical Construction. These two appendices are in turn followed by an Inventory of Terms.

THE 102 CHAPTERS

Each of the 102 chapters is constructed according to the same pattern. Each consists of five parts—an Introduction, an Outline of Topics, References, Cross-References, and Additional Readings. The inner structure of the Syntopicon is constituted by the order and relation of these five parts, and by the integral relation of the Inventory of Terms to the 102 chapters as a whole.

(1) INTRODUCTION. Each chapter begins with an essay which comments on the various meanings of the idea under consideration, and takes note of the problems it has raised and the controversies it has occasioned in the tradition of western thought.

The Introduction to a great idea is designed to serve as a guide to its topics and, through them, to the content of the references. For certain of the most important topics, it frequently provides, in the words of the authors themselves, a foretaste of the great conversation contained in the passages referred to. The Introduction usually expands on the necessarily brief statement of the themes or issues in the Outline of Topics, and furnishes some comment on the structure of the Outline as a whole, and on the relation of particular topics to one another.

The Introduction serves one other purpose. It indicates some of the connections between the idea it discusses and other great ideas, thus functioning as a commentary on the Cross-References. In some cases, the Introduction also calls attention to the way in which certain works recommended in the Additional Readings supplement the references to the great books in the discussion of certain aspects of the idea under consideration.

(2) OUTLINE OF TOPICS. In each chapter, the Outline of Topics follows the Introduction. It states the major themes of the conversation to be found in the great books on the idea of that chapter. It exhibits the internal structure of the idea by presenting its topics in relation to one another. There are about 3000 topics in the Syntopicon as a whole, an average of 30 to a chapter, though the actual number varies from as few as six topics in a chapter to as many as 76.

The 3000 topics provide a statement of the scope and variety of subjects with which the great books deal in a substantial and significant fashion. Since the topics are divided among 102 chapters, according to the great ideas under which they fall, the user of the Syntopicon can find a particular topic by turning to the chapter on the idea which is a central term expressed in the statement of that topic or, if not actually present in the phrasing of the topic, is implied by it.

Almost all the topics involve one or more terms other than the name of the great idea under which they fall. Hence, by consulting the Inventory of Terms, the user of the Syntopicon can ascertain whether the particular subject in which he is interested is represented by one or more of the 3000 topics. As will be seen below, the prime function of the Inventory is to enable the user of the Syntopicon to find topics in which he is interested and which he could not otherwise find except by examining the Outlines of Topics, chapter by chapter.

Since the references to the great books are organized by topics, the individual topic, rather than a great idea, is the elementary unit of the Syntopicon. From the standpoint of the references, the great ideas are collections of topics. The same is true of all the other terms listed in the Inventory of Terms. For each of these, one or more topics are the headings under which the discussion of the subject can be found in the great books. The user of the Syntopicon must, therefore, always use a topic rather than a term to discover what the great books have to say on a particular subject. However, with the help of the Inventory of Terms, he can always use a term to find the topics which either state or approximately represent the subject of his interest.

For the convenience of the reader, the Outline of Topics in each chapter is keyed to the pages of the Reference section which immediately follows. In the Outline, the number to the right of a particular topic indicates on which page of the Reference section it begins.

(3) REFERENCES. The References are the heart of each chapter. As the Introduction and the Outline of Topics are designed to help the reader use the References, so the References, organized topically, are designed to enable him to turn to the great books for the discussion of a particular subject. For each topic they locate, by volume and page, the relevant works and passages in Great Books of the Western World. There are about 163,000 references in the Syntopicon as a whole, an average of 1500 to a chapter, though the actual number varies from as few as 284 references in a chapter to as many as 7065.

Under each topic, the references are arranged in the order in which the authors and their works appear in Great Books of the Western World. References to the Bible, when present, are always placed first. The order of references enables the user of the Syntopicon either to follow the discussion of some theme through the great books in the historical sequence, or to select particular authors or the authors of a particular period, according to his interest.

Ideally, a syntopical reading of the great books in relation to any single topic should cover all the works or passages cited under that topic. Ideally, such a reading should proceed, in the first instance at least, in the order in which the references are presented. Reading the materials in chronological order enables the reader to follow the actual development of thought on a topic. In many passages, later authors explicitly refer to earlier ones; and even more frequently, the expression of later views presupposes an understanding of earlier ones, on which they are based or with which they take issue.

But the individual reader may deviate from this ideal procedure in a number of ways, according to his particular interests. He may wish only to sample the materials referred to under a given topic; or he may wish to examine what a certain group of authors have to say on a particular topic. The reader may know sufficiently well the position of certain authors on the topic in question, and so may turn his attention to other authors whose works are cited there; or he may wish to examine thoroughly the thought of certain authors, while merely forming a general impression of what others have to say. The Reference section is so constructed that it permits the reader, almost at a glance, to follow any one of a wide variety of procedures.

A brief explanatory note, repeated at the beginning of every Reference section, gives the minimum necessary directions for going from the references to the passages to which they refer. For the sake of brevity, it offers only such information as is uniform for all of the works cited. If the reader wishes complete information concerning the way in which each particular work is cited, he will find this set forth, by authors and titles, in the Explanation of Reference Style, which immediately follows this Preface (see pg. xxxiii) and is also printed, for the reader’s convenience, at the opening of Volume II. The Explanation of Reference Style contains a complete account of all the symbols and abbreviations used in the Reference section and gives examples of the usual typographical form of the references.

Only one further point requires comment here. In some chapters, a few topics contain no references. These topics serve in the Outline as headings for other topics grouped analytically under them. The user of the Syntopicon who wants to know what the great books have to say on a particular subject, and finds that subject represented by a topic without reference content, will find in its subordinate topics references to the great books on various aspects of the general subject he has in mind.

(4) CROSS-REFERENCES. The Cross-References follow the References in each chapter. They direct the reader to other chapters in which similar or related matters are considered. By relating the topics of one chapter to those of other chapters, the Cross-References show the interconnection of the great ideas.

In general, the order of the Cross-References follows that of the Outline of Topics. Each entry in the Cross-References indicates, by its phrasing, the subject of the topic in a given chapter to which topics in other chapters are related or similar.

The phrasing of the Cross-References enables the reader to determine whether the topics in the other chapters mentioned are similar or related to the topic in this chapter. The related topics will usually offer a quite different set of references.

The user of the Syntopicon will find that topics in different chapters often resemble one another, both in their phrasing and in the references set forth under them. In a few cases they are identical or almost identical. But similar topics will usually differ in their reference content because the meaning of a topic is partly determined by the idea under which it falls, and by the surrounding topics which form its context. Hence, in most cases, the reader who turns to similar topics in other chapters will find some proportion of different references.

(5) ADDITIONAL READINGS. Great Books of the Western World comprises 443 works by 74 authors; if we add the 77 books of the Bible, which are syntopically treated along with these published works, the number is 520. But this large number does not represent all the books which make signal contributions to the great conversation in the sphere of each of the great ideas.

The list of Additional Readings which is the last part of each chapter is a list of books recommended as companions to the works and passages cited in the Reference section. For the ideas and topics of each chapter, they supplement or amplify the discussion to be found in the great books. They represent some of the works in the wider field of literature, in which the great books occupy a central position.

In each list of Additional Readings, the recommended titles are divided into two groups: first, works written by authors represented in Great Books of the Western World; and second, works by other authors. Each group is listed chronologically. Whenever they are available, translations of foreign works are suggested. The existence of English translations is always indicated by the use of English titles; these are usually accompanied by the title in the original language.

The 102 lists of Additional Readings, each constructed for the idea and topics of a particular chapter, contain in all 2603 titles by 1181 authors. For the convenience of the reader, the authors and titles in the 102 separate lists of Additional Readings are compiled into a single list in the Bibliography of Additional Readings, which is Appendix I (see Volume II, pg. 1143).

In the Bibliography of Additional Readings, the authors’ names are in alphabetical order and the works of each author are listed alphabetically under his name. In addition, the Bibliography provides useful information concerning authors and works, such as birth and death dates of authors, date and place of writing or publication, names of editors or translators, names of publishers, and names of standard collections in which individual works appear. A note, preceding the Bibliography, explains the principles of its construction.

THE INVENTORY OF TERMS

The Inventory of Terms is an integral part of the Syntopicon placed for convenience at the end of Volume II.

The Syntopicon is both a book to be read and a reference book. The Table of Contents sets forth its contents as a book to be read. But since this is limited to listing the 102 great ideas chapter by chapter, it cannot indicate the scope and range of the Syntopicon as a reference book. The Inventory of Terms performs that function; it serves as a table of contents for the Syntopicon as a reference book.

The person who wishes to use the Syntopicon as a reference book, in order to learn what the great books have to say on a particular subject, must be able to find that subject among the 3000 topics. The primary function of the Inventory of Terms is to enable him to find the topic or topics which either clearly express or approximately represent the subject of his inquiry. It does so by citing, for each term listed, the topics in which that term is a principal element. It cites these by giving the name of the chapter in which the topic appears, and the number of the topic in that chapter. The reader can find the topic in which he is interested by looking in the Inventory for the term or terms that would appear in a statement of the subject.

The user of the Syntopicon may have a broader interest than can be expressed in a particular topic. He may wish to examine the whole range of discussion of a basic concept, whether that be one of the great ideas or some other term. This may involve, not one or two topics, but a large number, as is certainly the case for the great ideas, and for many other important concepts as well. Since the Inventory of Terms cites all the topics in which each term is significantly involved, it enables the reader to investigate the whole range of the discussion in the great books relevant to that term.

Among the terms listed in the Inventory are the names of the 102 great ideas. This does not duplicate the information furnished by the Table of Contents. For each of the great ideas, the Table of Contents locates only the whole chapter which deals with that great idea; whereas the Inventory of Terms usually cites topics in many other chapters, in addition to the chapter on that idea itself. For the reader who wishes to explore the discussion of a great idea as thoroughly as possible, the Inventory of Terms supplements the topics to be found in the chapter on that idea, and even those mentioned in the Cross-References of that chapter.

The 1800 terms in the Inventory are listed alphabetically, and for each term the relevant topics are cited in the alphabetical order of the chapters in which the topics occur. Sometimes the topics are divided into two groups, of primary and secondary importance. Within each group, the chapters are alphabetically arranged.

The Inventory is likely to present only one difficulty to the person who consults it in order to find a particular topic. The first step in the location of a topic is accomplished when the reader turns in the Inventory to the term that he thinks is involved in a statement of the subject of his interest. But, finding a number of topics cited there, he must choose among them.

There are two ways for him to proceed: (1) he can examine the topics one after another, until he finds the one which satisfies him as a statement of the subject; or (2) he can use the names of the chapters in which the topics occur as a clue to finding the topic which states the subject of his inquiry. Since the content of particular topics is largely determined by the idea under which it falls, the chapter names will quite frequently prove a reliable guide.

A brief note, at the beginning of the Inventory of Terms, explains its construction and furnishes directions for its use. Nothing more need be said here of its structure, or of its utility in making the Syntopicon a reference book. But a word should be added about the significance of the Inventory in relation to the great ideas.

The division of the Syntopicon into 102 chapters may give rise to the notion that its editors think there are only 102 ideas worth discussing. The number of really great, that is, primary or pivotal ideas may be smaller or larger than 102. That number represents an editorial judgment which was made in the course of constructing the Syntopicon. How it was reached is explained elsewhere (see Appendix II, Section I); but here it should be said that it does not represent a judgment by the editors that the 102 terms selected by them are the only concepts or ideas which have notable significance in the tradition of western thought. The Inventory of Terms manifests exactly the opposite judgment. Its 1800 words or phrases express important concepts. Though many of these will immediately be seen to have much less comprehensive or critical meaning than the 102 major terms of the Syntopicon, they all have general currency or importance in some special field of inquiry. They also represent notions or topics which fall under one or more of the 102 great ideas.

THE PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF SYNTOPICAL CONSTRUCTION

The essay on the Principles and Methods of Syntopical Construction is Appendix II (see Volume II, pg. 1219). It is intended as a supplement to this Preface. The foregoing brief descriptions of the parts of the Syntopicon indicate its structure, but they do not explain how it was constructed.

The work of creating each part of the Syntopicon raised many difficult intellectual and editorial problems. These problems, and especially the principles and methods by which they were solved, may be of interest to the reader after he has had some experience in using the Syntopicon, but probably not before. The editors decided to make the essay on the Syntopicon’s construction an appendix to the work, rather than burden the Preface with an account of the methods employed and an exposition of the principles adopted. While freeing the Preface from the burden of fuller explanations, they nevertheless hoped to provide systematic answers to questions which might arise in the reader’s mind as a result of using the Syntopicon.

III. THE USES OF THE SYNTOPICON

The foregoing discussion of the nature and structure of the Syntopicon has expressed the purpose for which it was designed, but it does not fully state all its possible uses. There are four basic types of usefulness which the editors hope the Syntopicon will have. Two of these have already been mentioned. It has been pointed out that the Syntopicon is both a reference book and a book to be read. But the Syntopicon is also intended to serve as an instrument of liberal education, through the aid it can give to a certain kind of study and teaching of the great books. It is not inconsistent with its primary function as a reference book that it should, in addition, prove to be an instrument of research and discovery.

(1) The Syntopicon as a reference book.

The description (in Section II of this Preface) of the parts of the Syntopicon, and their function in the structure of the whole, includes some indication of how it may be used as a reference book. Here we are concerned with its general character as a reference work, as evidenced by the types of questions it has been constructed to answer.

In contradistinction to books of other sorts, reference books are designed to help the reader who comes to them with inquiries on particular subjects. If, in addition to answering the questions he brings, they raise further questions in his mind and excite him to further inquiries, which, in turn, they are able to satisfy, they are more than answer-books. They are pedagogues, leading the mind from question to question in the pursuit of learning. Reference books at their best perform an educational function, not simply by answering questions, but by arousing and sustaining inquiry.

Nevertheless, the field of any reference book is defined, in the first instance, by the types of questions it is able to answer. The specific type of inquiry which the Syntopicon is able to satisfy, and which gives it its special character as a reference book, can be formulated by the question, What do the great books have to say on this subject? This is not the only question the Syntopicon is designed to answer, but it is the primary one.

The topics are the units through which the Syntopicon functions as a reference book, since it is under the topics that the references to the great books are assembled; and it is through reading the works or passages recommended by these references that the person who consults the Syntopicon finds the answer to his question, What do the great books have to say on this subject?

The range and variety of the particular subjects of inquiry on which the Syntopicon can be consulted, is indicated quantitatively by the number of topics and terms: 2987 topics are covered in the 102 chapters; 1798 terms are listed in the Inventory of Terms. Qualitatively, the range and variety of the inquiries the Syntopicon is able to satisfy, can be seen only through an examination of the topics, chapter by chapter, or by an examination of the chapter titles in the Table of Contents and the words or phrases listed in the Inventory of Terms.

To every question expressed in this way—What do the great books have to say on this subject?—the Syntopicon helps the reader to discover the answer for himself by a syntopical reading of the great books in the light of the topics and guided by the references assembled under them. This fact distinguishes the Syntopicon from all other familiar reference books, which contain within themselves the answers to the questions on which they are consulted. The Syntopicon does not contain the answers, but only a guide to where the answers can be found in the pages of the great books. The references which constitute this guide do not tell the reader what the great books have to say on a particular subject. They only tell him where to read in the great books in order to discover for himself the thought and opinion, the imagination and emotion, in which the authors of these books have expressed their minds on this or that particular subject. For this reason it was said earlier in this Preface that only when it is taken together with the great books themselves, does the Syntopicon create a reference library in the sphere of thought and opinion.

While this is true for the primary type of question which the Syntopicon is designed to answer through its system of references to the great books, it is not true, at least not to the same extent, for the subordinate types of questions now to be considered.

The question, What themes have been discussed in the tradition of western thought under this idea? is answered in the first instance by the Outline of Topics in the chapter on each of the great ideas. If the reader becomes interested in the actual content of the discussion under one or more of these topics, he will then be asking the primary sort of question, to which the references, assembled under these topics, provide the beginning of an answer, and the great books the fullness of it.

The question, To which of the other great ideas is this idea related and how is it related? is answered by the Cross-References in the chapter on each of the great ideas. The Cross-References enumerate the topics in other chapters which are related to the topics covered by the idea in question. The introductory essay on the idea also usually contains references to other Introductions in which related ideas are considered. By reading the Introduction and examining the Cross-References, a person can use the Syntopicon to discover, at least initially, the connections between one great idea and others.

The question, What books other than those published in this set contain important discussions of this idea? is answered, to some extent, by the Additional Readings listed in the chapter on each of the great ideas.

The question, What is the history of the idea, its various meanings, and the problems or controversies it has raised? is answered, at least initially, by the Introduction to the chapter on each of the great ideas. Here as before, if the reader’s interest is aroused to further inquiry, the topics, the references under them, the passages in the great books referred to, and the books listed in the Additional Readings, provide the means for a fuller exploration of the idea, in varying degrees of thoroughness and ramification.

(2) The Syntopicon as a book to be read.

With respect to its 102 essays on the great ideas, the Syntopicon is first of all a book to be read. These essays are arranged in the alphabetical order of the ideas, but they need not be read in that order. Each is intended to be intelligible in itself, independently of the others.

The reader can therefore begin according to his interests with any one of the Introductions to the great ideas. No matter where he begins, he will find that the reading of no other Introduction is presupposed. But he will also find that each Introduction traces some of the connections between the particular idea which it treats and other great ideas.

With whatever idea he begins, the introductory essay will at least suggest other ideas as subjects of related interest. These in turn will turn his attention to, and may arouse his interest in, still others. Since each of the great ideas is directly or remotely related to many others—perhaps to all—through a network of connections radiating from each idea as a point of origin, the reader, starting at any point in the realm of thought, can explore the whole of it by going from any one idea to all the rest by circuits or pathways of his own choosing.

The reading of one or more Introductions should also turn attention to the Outlines of Topics in these same chapters; and, through them and the references organized under them, to the great books themselves. As integral parts of the Syntopicon, the Introductions to the great ideas are not intended to satisfy the reader’s interest, but rather to arouse it, and then direct it to the great books. The name “Introduction” specifies the function these essays were designed to perform. When they function effectively as introductions to the Outlines of Topics and the References, they implement the use of the Syntopicon, not simply as a reference book, but as an instrument of liberal education.

(3) The Syntopicon as an instrument of liberal education.

The Syntopicon serves the end of liberal education to the extent that it facilitates the reading of the great books and, beyond that, the study and teaching of them. To make the nature of this educational contribution clear, it is necessary to distinguish between the integral and the syntopical reading of great books.

Integral reading consists simply in reading a whole book through. But syntopical reading does not consist simply in reading parts of a book rather than the whole. It involves the reading of one book in relation to others, all of them relevant to the consideration of the same topic.

In some cases, as the References show, whole works are cited along with passages from other works, which may be as short as a paragraph or as long as a chapter or a series of chapters. For the most part, a syntopical reading consists in reading passages of varying length rather than whole works; but the point remains that the essence of syntopical reading lies in the juxtaposition of many authors under the same topic and, in consequence, the reading together of their works, in whole or part.

Neither of these two types of reading can ever be a substitute for the other, nor can either be taken as sufficient in itself. On the contrary, each is incomplete without the other. Those who begin by reading in the great books and reading them syntopically must eventually read at least some of them integrally. Those who have already read some of the great books through must read them syntopically to discover what an integral reading of the great books seldom reveals, except, perhaps, to the most mature student or conscientious scholar. For each of these two sorts of persons—the beginning reader and the more advanced student or scholar—the Syntopicon functions differently and the syntopical reading of the great books serves a different purpose.

FOR THE BEGINNING READER—in the extreme case, a person who has read none of the great books—a syntopical reading, done in accordance with the references under even a few topics, works in three ways: initiatively, suggestively, and instructively.

It works initiatively by overcoming the initial difficulty that anyone faces when confronted by a collection of books as vast and, in a sense, as overpowering as Great Books of the Western World. The problem is where to begin and in what order to proceed. There are many solutions to this problem, usually in the form of courses of reading based on different principles of selection; but these usually require the reading of whole books or, at least, the integral reading of large parts of them.

It is a matter of general experience that this kind of solution seldom achieves the intended result. A syntopical reading of the great books provides a radically different sort of solution, which promises to be more effective. It initiates the reading of the great books by enabling persons to read in them on the subjects in which they are interested; and on those subjects, to read relatively short passages from a large number of authors. It assumes only that every educable mind has some interest in one or more of the themes, problems, or ideas on which the great books touch.

A syntopical reading may also work suggestively. Starting from a reader’s existing interest in a particular topic, it may arouse or create an interest in other topics related to those which initiated his reading in the great books. The syntopical reading of a collection of authors under a particular topic may also impel the reader to look beyond the passages cited. Except when they cite whole works, the references cite passages which necessarily exist in a context, ultimately the context of the whole book. Few of these passages are absolutely self-contained. For few of them can it be said that it will be finally satisfactory to read them without looking further into the author’s thought. Hence, proceeding along the natural lines of his own interests, the reader may be led from reading small parts of certain books to reading larger parts and, eventually, to reading whole books. If this process is repeated, each syntopical reading may occasion and stimulate a more and more extensive integral reading of the great books.

Working initiatively and suggestively, syntopical reading opens the great books at the pages of maximum interest to the individual and, by the force of the passages read and their dependence on context, carries him from reading parts to reading whole works. Syntopical reading works instructively when it guides the mind in interpreting and understanding the passages or works being read. It does this in three ways.

First, the topic in connection with which the passage is being read serves to give direction to the reader in interpreting the passage. But it does not tell him what the passage means, since the passage cited may be relevant to the topic in any one of a number of ways. Hence the reader is called upon to discover precisely what relevance the passage has to the topic. To learn to do this is to acquire a major skill in the art of reading.

Second, the collection of a number of passages on the same topic, but from different works and different authors, serves to sharpen the reader’s interpretation of each passage read. Sometimes, when passages from the same book or author are read in sequence and in the context of one another, each becomes clearer. Sometimes the meaning of each of a series of contrasting or conflicting passages from different books or authors is accentuated when they are read against one another. And sometimes the passages from one author, by amplifying or commenting on the passages cited from another, materially help the reader’s understanding of the second author.

Third, if the individual does a syntopical reading of the great books under a number of distinct topics, the fact that the same passage will often be found cited under two or more topics will have its instructive effect. As relevant to distinct topics, the passage must have an amplitude of meaning which the reader will come to perceive when he interprets it somewhat differently in relation to different topics. Such multiple interpretation not only is a basic exercise in the art of reading, but also tends to make the mind habitually alert to the many strains of meaning which any rich or complex passage can contain.

In this description of the ways in which a syntopical reading instructs in the art of reading the great books, we have emphasized only the influence of the topic under which the reading is done and the effect of reading one passage in relation to another or in relation to several distinct topics. But to assure or reinforce its instructive effect, two other factors may operate in the background of a syntopical reading. One is the whole Outline of Topics, which places a particular topic in the context of other topics under the same idea. The other is the Introduction to that idea, which may help the reader to interpret the particular topic, thereby increasing the effectiveness of that topic as a guide to the interpretation of the works or passages referred to under it.

IF WE TURN NOW FROM THE BEGINNING READER to the more mature student or scholar—in the extreme case, a person who has read through many, if not all, of the great books—we shall see that a syntopical reading works in a different way. It no longer need function initiatively or suggestively; nor, for the competent reader, need it serve instructively, to develop skill in the art of reading. But it does provide the occasion and the materials for a more intensive and critical reading of passages already read; and it supplements the reading of whole works independently of one another by requiring an examination of these works, or passages from them, in mutual relation, as relevant to the same topic.

It is the general experience of highly competent readers that a great book can be read through many times without the attainment of such complete mastery that the reader knows the relevance of every passage in it to every theme it touches. On the contrary, the integral reading of a great book, even when done more than once, seldom reveals even a large part of its meaning. Only the most intensive scholarly study of a particular book or author ever arrives at such mastery.

Short of that, reading a great book through one or more times will inevitably leave unnoticed or only partly recognized many passages of critical significance to a particular theme or problem. Only when the book is read with that particular subject in mind will these passages, hitherto unobserved, be found.

The truth of this can be verified by accomplished readers of the great books if they will examine, under particular topics, passages from books they have already read or even studied to some extent. Unless their previous reading of the books was done in the light of the particular intellectual interest represented by this topic, they are likely to find some passages that they never saw before, or at least never fully recognized as having the significance they take on when read syntopically—in the light of this topic and in relation to other works and passages relevant to the same theme.

The Syntopicon can thus serve those who have already done, to a greater or less extent, an integral reading of the great books. The method of syntopical reading not only provides a different and rewarding way of reading them, but also carries the study of them to deeper and deeper levels of understanding. It overcomes the defects of the ordinary integral reading in several ways. It involves reading the great books in relation to one another rather than in isolation. It supplements the knowledge of whole works by concentration on the significance of parts. Taking each of 3000 topics as the occasion for a purposeful reading in all the great books, it makes possible the close study of each work in relation to all the problems or issues on which it bears.

There is still another way in which the method of syntopical reading can advance the study of the great books, or rather a studious use of them. Here the aim is not to study the books themselves, but to consider a problem or an issue to the solution or clarification of which they contribute.

The particular problem may involve many topics in one or more chapters. It may involve a number of great ideas and many subordinate terms. The organization of the Syntopicon enables the student of such a problem to discover the range of the terms and topics traditionally involved in its consideration. The References enable him to examine systematically, in their chronological order or in any order he wishes, the record of western thought concerning this problem, so far as it is contained in the great books. The Additional Readings supplement these materials by citing other books which bear upon the problem more or less directly.

It does not seem an exaggeration to say that a person who has done all the syntopical reading suggested by the References and the Additional Readings on a particular problem, will have a fairly adequate knowledge of that problem and its proposed solutions in the development of western thought. The Syntopicon should be able to save the person who is beginning his inquiry into a certain problem much of the preliminary labor of research, and advance him rapidly to the point where he can begin to think independently about it, because he knows what thinking has been done. For the scholar, already advanced in his research on a given problem, it may still be possible for the Syntopicon to serve some good purpose as a reminder or a check; it may even uncover a neglected passage, or throw new light upon one by placing it in the context of other passages.

WHAT HAS JUST BEEN SAID about the studious or scholarly use of the Syntopicon suggests how it may serve as an instrument in teaching the great books, or in using them as teaching materials. For the most part, the great books enter the curricula of schools and colleges engaged in liberal education only by way of courses in which some of these books, or most of them, are read integrally. Even when they are read in selections rather than as wholes, they are, for the most part, used as materials in a general course of study rather than as applicable to the study of particular subject matters.

Without detracting from or competing with the unquestionable value of such procedures, the Syntopicon offers another pedagogical use of the great books. The method of syntopical reading makes them available in the teaching of courses concerned with particular subject matters, or in the conduct of seminars devoted to the study of particular problems. In certain cases, it may encourage the reading of the great texts in place of textbooks.

For a particular problem or subject matter, whose name is either one of the great ideas or a major term in the Inventory of Terms, the Syntopicon suggests some, if not all, of the topics which deserve to be studied, and some, if not all, of the works which deserve to be read in whole or part. It thus provides a set of materials organized so as to be adaptable to the method and interest of the individual teacher. For example, at one extreme, the teacher can use the Syntopicon merely as a guide to supplementary reading; at the other extreme, he can use it to construct his own set of textual materials, selected from the References and the Additional Readings and organized in the framework of a sequence of topics.

(4) The Syntopicon as an instrument of discovery and research.

What has already been said about the use of the Syntopicon by the serious student, or even the advanced scholar, in the sphere of a particular problem or subject matter, obviously covers part of the Syntopicon’s utility as an instrument of research or discovery. But there are three special types of inquiry for the pursuit of which the Syntopicon seems to be especially adapted.

The first of these is the study of the history of ideas. The chapter on each of the 102 great ideas presents the record of thought in the form of references to the great books, organized under each topic. Since the references are arranged in the order in which the authors and works appear in the set of great books, and since, with few exceptions, this is a strict chronological order, the record of thought is presented in an order suited to the historian’s interest. The Additional Readings, which supplement the great books in the record, are also arranged chronologically. Here the Syntopicon provides an organization of materials eminently useful to the scholar engaged in the historical study of ideas.

The second type of special inquiry concerns the thought of a single author, in its historical relation to the thought of predecessors who influenced him and followers influenced by him. If that author happens to be one of the authors of the great books, the Syntopicon can facilitate such research, since, for hundreds of distinct topics, it places references to the work of the particular author in the context of references to other authors—earlier, later, or contemporary—whom he may have influenced or by whom he may have been influenced.

The third type of special inquiry is limited to the thought of a particular period rather than a particular author. Within this limitation, the historical interest may extend to all the great and near-great minds who formed the thought of this period, as well as to all the ideas with which they dealt. So far as the formative minds of the particular period are represented by authors of the great books and by other authors cited in the Additional Readings, the Syntopicon can assist such research. Instead of using its references vertically, from one end of the tradition to the other, as would the student of the history of an idea, the student of an epoch of thought would cut through the references horizontally. He would take all the authors and books which fell within the period under consideration; he would examine the materials referred to under every idea or topic which appeared to have been considered by the minds of that period.

In these three types of historical inquiry, the Syntopicon is at best an auxiliary instrument in the service of scholarship. If it proves to be more than that for the ordinary student, it will probably be less than that for the accomplished scholar whose documentary resources in a particular field are more extensive than those from which the Syntopicon is constructed. This is especially true of those problems in the history of ideas which have been investigated by prolonged research. But some problems have not been so investigated, and the Syntopicon may have something to contribute to the study of these. It is even possible that the Syntopicon may uncover or call attention to new problems, or may cause the re-formulation of old problems in a new way.

THE GRAND RESEARCH suggested by the existence of the Syntopicon is not historical, however, but philosophical. Stated simply, it is the project of creating in and for the twentieth century a synthesis or summation of western thought, past and present, which will serve the intellectual needs of our time, as analogous syntheses or summations have served antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the period of the enlightenment.

The 102 great ideas, the 1800 other terms, and the 3000 topics of the Syntopicon are a fair representation of the objects, as the materials to be found in the 443 works here published and the 2600 other works listed in the Additional Readings are a fair representation of the content, of western inquiry and discussion. The Syntopicon is, therefore, an instrument adapted to the sort of research which might produce a summation of western thought from the beginning to the present.

Because the existence of the Syntopicon makes it possible and suggests that it be undertaken, the project envisaged might be called a Program of Syntopical Research. Because the method of this research, like the method which produced the Syntopicon, would be thoroughly dialectical in character, the intellectual summation which would be its product could be called a Summa Dialectica.

MORTIMER J. ADLER, Editor Chicago, 1952

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE STYLE

THE references have a uniform typographical style, but the manner of referring to particular works varies in certain respects. The Explanation of Reference Style describes the typographical construction of the references, with some comment on the variations. It is divided into four parts: I. General Typographical Style II. Style of Bible References III. Punctuation, Symbols, Abbreviations IV. Table of Authors, Titles, and Author’s Divisions Cited

I. GENERAL TYPOGRAPHICAL STYLE

The two examples below illustrate the general typographical pattern of the references to Great Books of the Western World; and the headings above the examples call attention to the five elements commonly present in the construction of the references.

(1) Volume Number:

The volume number indicates in which volume of Great Books of the Western World the work or passage referred to can be found. Most volumes contain the work of one author. When a single volume contains the works of two or more authors, the volume number is given for each author. When the work of a single author is contained in two volumes, the volume number is assigned according to the contents of the volume.

(2) Author’s Name:

The author’s name immediately follows the volume number, except in the case of the American State Papers and The Federalist, which are included in Volume 43. Authors’ names are usually given in shortened form.

(3) Title of Work:

The title follows the author’s name, with the two exceptions above noted. Titles are also frequently abbreviated or shortened. When two or more works are cited for a single author, the titles are listed in the order in which the works appear in the volume.

(4) Author’s Divisions:

By “author’s divisions” is meant all such subdivisions of a work as book, part, section, chapter, paragraph, line number. The phrase “author’s divisions” does not necessarily mean divisions made by the author; they may have been made by an editor of his work.

Author’s divisions are given only for some works, according as, in the judgment of the editors, their inclusion would prove meaningful or helpful to the reader. References to Locke, for instance, as in the example, always cite author’s divisions; whereas references to Gibbon, as in the example, do not.

For some works, author’s divisions are completely given, as for Locke. For other works, only the most important or largest divisions are given. Thus for Rabelais only the book but not the chapter is given.

Line numbers, in brackets, are given for all works of poetry, including those published in prose translations. For Goethe’s Faust, the line numbers cited refer to the lines of the English translation as well as to the lines of the original German. For other poetical works in translation—the works of Homer, the Greek dramatists, Lucretius, Virgil, and Dante—the line numbers cited refer to the lines of the works in their original languages; for these works, the line numbers printed on the pages of this edition furnish only an approximate indication of the location of the equivalent lines in the English translation. For all poetical works written in English, the line numbers are the numbers of the English lines. In the case of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the numbering of the lines is consecutive for all the tales written in verse.

In references to the works of Aristotle (in Volumes 8 and 9), the figures and letters enclosed in the brackets signify the page, column, and approximate line in the Berlin edition of the Greek text edited by Immanuel Bekker. In references to the American State Papers (in Volume 43), the bracketed line numbers refer to the lines on the pages of this edition only.

In references to the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas (in Volumes 19 and 20), the author’s division “Part I-II” stands for Part I of the Second Part, and “Part II-II” stands for Part II of the Second Part. In the case of the Summa Theologica, the author’s divisions cited may include not only questions and articles, but the subdivisions of articles. In such cases the page sections correspond in extent to that of a whole article, to enable the reader to see the subdivision of an article, when it is cited, in the context of other parts to which it is related.

Author’s divisions precede page sections except in the case of footnote and note numbers, which follow page sections. When more than one passage is cited within the same author’s division, the author’s division is not repeated; as, for example:

38 ROUSSEAU: Social Contract, BK II, 403a-404a; 405d-406a

(5) Page Sections:

The pages of Great Books of the Western World are printed in either one or two columns. The upper and lower halves of a one-column page are indicated by the letters a and b. When the text is printed in two columns, the letters a and b refer to the upper and lower halves of the left-hand column, the letters c and d to the upper and lower halves of the right-hand column. These half and quarter page sections are based on divisions of a full text page.

Page sections give the page numbers and locate the sections of the page in which the passage referred to begins and ends. For example, in the reference:

53 JAMES: Psychology, 116a-119b

the passage cited begins in the upper half of page 116 and ends in the lower half of page 119. In the reference:

7 PLATO: Symposium, 163b-164c

the passage cited begins in the lower half of the left-hand column of page 163 and ends in the upper half of the right-hand column of page 164.

In references to works printed in two columns, the format of the page sometimes places continuous reading matter in the a and c sections of the upper half of the page, or in the b and d sections of the lower half of the page. This occurs when a work or an author’s division begins in the lower, or ends in the upper, half of the two-column page. Where continuous reading matter thus appears in discontinuous page sections, it is indicated by a,c or b,d. For example:

14 PLUTARCH: Solon 64b,d-77a,c

means that the work cited begins in the lower half of page 64 and ends in the upper half of page 77.

Footnotes or notes are sometimes specifically cited by themselves in the references, in which case the page sections given correspond to their location on the pages referred to. When a footnote or a note is not specifically cited, the page sections given mark the beginning and the end of the text referred to. The reader is expected to consult the footnotes or notes indicated in the body of that text.

Chaucer’s works (in Volume 22) are printed in two columns; the inside column of each page contains the Middle English text, the outside column a Modern English version. Since both columns contain equivalent passages, the references to this volume employ page sections (a and b) which divide each page only into an upper and a lower half.

II. STYLE OF BIBLE REFERENCES

All Bible references are to book, chapter, and verse in both the King James and Douay versions of the Bible. When the King James and Douay versions differ in the title of books or in the numbering of chapters or verses, the King James version is cited first and the Douay, indicated by a (D), follows. For example:

OLD TESTAMENT: Nehemiah, 7:45—(D) II Esdras, 7:46

In references to the Bible, a colon is used to separate chapter and verse numbers; and a comma separates the numbers of verses in the same chapter. For example:

OLD TESTAMENT: Exodus, 6:1-4,16-18

III. PUNCTUATION, SYMBOLS, ABBREVIATIONS

(1) Punctuation

Diagonal line: When a series of references to one author includes two or more of his works published in the same volume, a diagonal line is used to separate references to one work from references to another. The diagonal line is used in the same way to separate references to different books of the Bible. For example:

OLD TESTAMENT: Exodus, 33:12-23 / Job, 11:7-9

43 MILL: Liberty, 302d-303a / Representative Government, 327b,d-332d

Semi-Colon: When a series of references includes the citation of two or more passages in the same work, a semi-colon is used to separate the references to these passages. For example:

OLD TESTAMENT: Genesis, 1:12-14; 9:1-11

38 ROUSSEAU: Social Contract, BK II, 403a-404a; 405d-406a

46 HEGEL: Philosophy of History, PART II, 265c-266a; PART IV, 346c-348a

Comma: When a comma separates the title of a work, or an author’s division of a work, from the page sections which follow, passages cited are only a part of the whole work or of the author’s division indicated. For example, in the references:

14 PLUTARCH: Lycurgus, 36a-b; 44d-45c

36 SWIFT: Gulliver, PART II, 73a-74b

the passages from Plutarch are only a part of Lycurgus, and the passage from Swift is only a few pages from Part II of Gulliver’s Travels.

When the title of a work, or an author’s division of a work, is not separated by a comma from the page sections which follow, the reference is to the whole work or to the whole of the indicated author’s division. For example, in the references:

14 PLUTARCH: Lycurgus 32a-48d

36 SWIFT: Gulliver, PART II 45a-87b

the whole of Lycurgus and the whole of Part II of Gulliver’s Travels are cited.

(2) Symbols

esp: The abbreviation “esp” precedes one or more especially relevant passages which are contained within the page boundaries of a larger passage or a whole work that has just been cited.

Whenever passages contained within a single reference are especially referred to, a comma after the page sections separates these passages. For example:

42 KANT: Science of Right, 435a-441d esp 435c-436b, 437c-d, 438d-441d

Whenever passages contained within a single reference to the Bible are especially referred to, a comma is also used to separate these passages. For example:

NEW TESTAMENT: Romans, 1-8 esp 2:11-16, 2:27-29, 7:21-25, 8:27

passim: The word “passim” following a reference signifies that the work or passage referred to discusses the topic under which it is cited, intermittently rather than continuously. For example:

9 ARISTOTLE: Politics, BK I, CH 7 461d-463c passim / Athenian Constitution, CH 1-41 553a-572d passim

(3) Abbreviations

The following is a list of the abbreviations used in the references. Unless an abbreviation for the plural is listed below, the singular abbreviation is used for both singular and plural words.

IV. TABLE OF AUTHORS, TITLES, AND AUTHOR’S DIVISIONS CITED

The following pages present a tabulation of the contents of Great Books of the Western World, Volumes 4-54. The authors are enumerated in the order in which they appear in the successive volumes of the set; and under each author’s name the titles of his works are listed in the order of their appearance.

In the references, the name of the author is frequently given in shortened form. In this table, their full names are given, followed by their life dates when these are ascertainable. Because some volumes contain the works of two or more authors who may be separated by centuries, the order in which the authors are cited in the references sometimes departs from the strict chronological order. The life dates help the reader to place the authors and their works in the right chronological order.

In the references, the title of a work is frequently given in an abbreviated or shortened form. In this table, the titles are first given exactly as they appear in the references. Whenever this is an abbreviated or shortened title, the full title follows.

The table also includes a notation of the author’s divisions that are used in references to particular works.

A dash in the column headed “Author’s Divisions Cited” means that references to the work or works in question cite page sections only. Where the author’s divisions cited are the same for several titles, they are named only once, either opposite the set of titles as a whole, or opposite the last title in the group.

Titles in brackets are collective titles which appear on the title page of the work, but do not appear in the references. The names of the authors of The Federalist (in Volume 43) are bracketed because they do not appear in the references.