Mortimer Adler, Philosopher for the Common Man
Over the past thirty years I have profited greatly from the books and thinking of Mortimer Adler. I was first exposed to him when a local public television station broadcast a 1981 Bill Moyer’s series based upon Adler’s book, “Six Great Ideas: Truth, Goodness, Beauty, Liberty, Equality, and Justice.” There was an episode for each of the six ideas. Stimulated by the discussion, I bought the book. I found Adler’s common sense approach delightful. So much of modern philosophy has become distant from our day-to-day life. In the pages of this book, I found ideas that I could use and live by.
Adler is also known for his work at the Encylopedia Britannica and for his promotion of reading and discussing the “Great Books.” For years, people would come to the Aspen Institute where he taught philosophy to business executives in the context of reading and discussing some of these works.
If you would be inclined to read some of his work, I would suggest starting with the following (in this order):
- Six Great Ideas: Truth-Goodness-Beauty-Liberty-Equality-Justice (1981)
- A Vision of the Future: Twelve Ideas for a Better Life and a Better Society (1984)
- How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading (with Charles Van Doren), Second Edition (1972)
- Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy (1978)
- How to Speak / How to Listen (1983)
- We Hold These Truths: Understanding the Ideas and Ideals of the Constitution (1987)
- Desires, Right & Wrong: The Ethics of Enough (1991)
The following sites are also worth visiting: