What is the Great Conversation reading group???
The Great Conversation is a reading group dedicated to reading the great works of Western
civilization. The name and original inspiration of the group is Britannica Great Books of the
Western World, edited by Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins. Adler and Hutchins believed the
great books could be viewed as a dialog, a conversation, taking place over the centuries and
millenia. The goal of our group is to listen in on that conversation and even to begin to
participate in it.
Our readings are taken from among the set of the authors in the Britannica Great Books
anthology following a modified version of Adler's and Hutchins's ten-year reading plan. We use
Adler's ten year reading plan as a general guide the selection of our readings. We will generally
follow the authors listed in the ten year reading plan, but we may choose to read the entirety of
particular books by those authors, instead of reading only a small selection as frequently
suggested by the Britannica editors. The goal is to read many of the original texts of these
authors directly and unfiltered.
Anyone is free to join and read and discuss. Having a copy of the Britannica Great Books is not
required, as these books are also available in other formats by other publishers, such as
Penguin.
We are a yahoogroup, which you can find at the link below.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GreatConversation/
civilization. The name and original inspiration of the group is Britannica Great Books of the
Western World, edited by Mortimer Adler and Robert Hutchins. Adler and Hutchins believed the
great books could be viewed as a dialog, a conversation, taking place over the centuries and
millenia. The goal of our group is to listen in on that conversation and even to begin to
participate in it.
Our readings are taken from among the set of the authors in the Britannica Great Books
anthology following a modified version of Adler's and Hutchins's ten-year reading plan. We use
Adler's ten year reading plan as a general guide the selection of our readings. We will generally
follow the authors listed in the ten year reading plan, but we may choose to read the entirety of
particular books by those authors, instead of reading only a small selection as frequently
suggested by the Britannica editors. The goal is to read many of the original texts of these
authors directly and unfiltered.
Anyone is free to join and read and discuss. Having a copy of the Britannica Great Books is not
required, as these books are also available in other formats by other publishers, such as
Penguin.
We are a yahoogroup, which you can find at the link below.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GreatConversation/
What are we reading and discussing now?
Please note that Adler's 10-year suggested list
of readings in Britannica's Great Books is
different in edition one compared with edition
two. Please refer to the reading list here as the
definitive list for our group's readings. (MORE)
of readings in Britannica's Great Books is
different in edition one compared with edition
two. Please refer to the reading list here as the
definitive list for our group's readings. (MORE)
The Great Conversation
reading group
reading group
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JANUARY FEBRUARY 2010
PLUTARCH - LIVES (Either selections, or in its entirety.)
MARCH 2010
MACHIAVELLI - THE PRINCE
APRIL 2010
ST. AUGUSTINE: Confessions
[Either in its entirety or Book IX-XIII]
MAY 2010
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Summa Theologica [Either Part
I, QQ 16-17, 84-88, or alternatively, the entirety of "A
Summa of the Summa", an abridged version of the
entire Summa, edited and abridged by Peter Kreeft.]
JUNE 2010
CALVIN – Institutes of the Christian Religion [Book III, or
in its entirety]
JULY 2010
MONTAIGNE: Apology for Raymond de Sebonde; Other
Essays [Of Custom, and That We Should Not Easily
Change a Law Received; Of Pedantry; Of the Education
of Children; That It Is Folly to Measure Truth and Error by
Our Own Capacity; Of Cannibals; That the Relish of
Good and Evil Depends in a Great Measure upon the
Opinion We Have of Them; Upon Some Verses of Virgil]
AUGUST 2010
GALILEO: Two New Sciences [Third Day, through
Scholium of Theorem II]
SEPTEMBER 2010
BACON: Novum Organum [Preface, Book I]
OCTOBER 2010
DESCARTES: Discourse on the Method
NOVEMBER 2010
NEWTON: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
[Prefaces, Definitions, Axioms, General Scholium]
DECEMBER 2010
LOCKE: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
[Book II]
JANUARY 2011
HUME: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
FEBRUARY MARCH 2011
KANT: Critique of Pure Reason [Either selections or in
its entirety.]
APRIL 2011
MELVILLE: Moby Dick
PLUTARCH - LIVES (Either selections, or in its entirety.)
MARCH 2010
MACHIAVELLI - THE PRINCE
APRIL 2010
ST. AUGUSTINE: Confessions
[Either in its entirety or Book IX-XIII]
MAY 2010
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Summa Theologica [Either Part
I, QQ 16-17, 84-88, or alternatively, the entirety of "A
Summa of the Summa", an abridged version of the
entire Summa, edited and abridged by Peter Kreeft.]
JUNE 2010
CALVIN – Institutes of the Christian Religion [Book III, or
in its entirety]
JULY 2010
MONTAIGNE: Apology for Raymond de Sebonde; Other
Essays [Of Custom, and That We Should Not Easily
Change a Law Received; Of Pedantry; Of the Education
of Children; That It Is Folly to Measure Truth and Error by
Our Own Capacity; Of Cannibals; That the Relish of
Good and Evil Depends in a Great Measure upon the
Opinion We Have of Them; Upon Some Verses of Virgil]
AUGUST 2010
GALILEO: Two New Sciences [Third Day, through
Scholium of Theorem II]
SEPTEMBER 2010
BACON: Novum Organum [Preface, Book I]
OCTOBER 2010
DESCARTES: Discourse on the Method
NOVEMBER 2010
NEWTON: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
[Prefaces, Definitions, Axioms, General Scholium]
DECEMBER 2010
LOCKE: An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
[Book II]
JANUARY 2011
HUME: An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
FEBRUARY MARCH 2011
KANT: Critique of Pure Reason [Either selections or in
its entirety.]
APRIL 2011
MELVILLE: Moby Dick