How to think about the great ideas

Name: How to think about the great ideas
ISBN: 0812694120

from the great books of western civilization

by Mortimer J. Adler · first published 2000

4mentions

3recommended by

3HN commenters

2011–2022first – last mentioned

100% recommend

Philosophy

"It was Adler who first understood that there are a definite number of Great Ideas (102, later increased to 103) which form the core of the thought of Western Civilization and the keys to understanding the Great Books.". "How to Think about the Great Ideas, newly adapted from Dr. Adler's TV lectures, explores such Great Ideas as Art, Democracy, Emotion, God, Love, Truth, and Work. It can be read either as an introduction to philosophy or as a thought-provoking treatment of selected philosophical issues."--BOOK JACKET.

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jason_wirth · Dec 3, 2017 · Recommends

Mortimer Adler's "How To Think About The Great Ideas" I got a degree in philosophy and its the single best general book I've ever read. The book is actually a transcription of a TV show he did and its in dialogue form. The structure is broken up into…
on “Ask HN: What are the best books to (re)discover philosophy?” ↗
steven5122 · Sep 19, 2011 · Recommends

Mortimer Adler has written some philosophy books that are accessible, like How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization. http://www.amazon.com/How-Think-About-Great-Ideas/dp/0812694...
on “PG's Rarely Asked Questions” ↗
wirthjason · Dec 6, 2020 · Recommends

The best book for this is “How To Think About The Great Ideas” by Mortimer Adler. I studied philosophy undergrad and ran the philosophy club. We used a lot of material from this book to structure our meetings. Many people have mentioned taking a class (I agree…
on “Ask HN: Learning about philosophy” ↗
wirthjason · Feb 19, 2022 · Recommends

…you are reading and why. Check out “How to Read A Book” by Mortimer Adler. The book is quite old but still extremely relevant. (He’s one of the best philosophers/thinkers I’ve ever read BTW. I suggest “How To Think About The Great Ideas”, but that’s for another topic.) On the subject of note taking a professor once told me “don’t take notes, make notes”. Note taking is basically writing down what the author (lecturer) says. In college…
on “Show HN: Sioyek – PDF viewer for reading research papers and textbooks” ↗