The Great Books and the Great Conversation: An Introduction
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- An introduction to the great books and the great conversation. In this episode, I (Christian Poole) also cover questions like: Why read the great books? What makes a great book? Why focus on the great books of the West and not the East? Also covered is the Great Books of the Western World set, which I use extensively in this podcast and channel.
ABOUT THE PODCAST
The ThinkingWest: Great Books Explored podcast revives the “Great Conversation” in our digital age through exploring the great books of the western world. We dive deep into the most influential books of all time, read short essays and letters from the greatest thinkers, and discuss timeless ideas that continue to shape our culture today.
ABOUT THINKINGWEST
ThinkingWest aims to revive the “Great Conversation” in our digital age through promoting the study of the great books of the western world, classical approaches to education, and through thoughtful commentary on current events, history, philosophy, culture, education, and religion.
LINKS
Website: thinkingwest.com/
Donate to support this work: thinkingwest.com/donate/
List of the Great Books of the Western World: thinkingwest.com/encyclopedia...
Music composed and produced by Adam Drakos. Check out his channel here for more of his work: / @adamdrakos8824
#greatbooks #greatconversation #philosophy #podcast
I think it's very important for people to understand that simply reading the texts, ala one and done, isn't enough - you MUST slow down, really contemplate the contents, pour over the meanings and importance and really study what you read. Absorb it. You are reading to lift that information off the page. From there you have to contend with that information, play with it, turn it over in your hands and mind. Re-reading is absolutely essential in this regard. You WILL NOT glean more than a surface understanding of the texts with one reading. Don't treat it as a list to tick off, but rather a table of suggestive reading for a thorough, personal education. One great book properly read and comprehended is infinitely better than twenty rushed through.
Well said! It's easy to fall into thinking about our personal reading progress in terms of a list. Maybe a fault of childhood schooling? I recall being given a list of books to read every summer (few of which were very good). I found writing something about each book (even if just a bunch of quotes or short summaries) can help one read a book more deliberately.
@@ThinkingWest
I also think it's something to do with our hectic modern culture which prioritizes 'getting things done' and 'productivity' over that which truly matters.
Have you read Adler's how to read a book?
Complete opposite of the “hack” seeking culture today.
Super pumped about this channel and podcast. My wife and I started classically homeschooling this year and working our way through this set. I'm about half way through the Iliad.
Thanks! Classical homeschooling is the way to go and is our plan for our kids as well. Are you attempting to read in the order of the GBWW set, or follow some other reading plan?
@@ThinkingWest we're mixing our own curriculum, heavily influenced by "The Well Trained Mind", in addition to a local Classical Conversations program. As far as working through the books, my wife and I are basically racing through them. 😂 She has the gift on about a 1k wpm reading speed so she'll finish before I do. But her speed is much slower right now with the older works. We're going oldest to newest through the set in timeline order.
Awesome. I was brought to the great books by reading "The Well Trained Mind" and the adult-oriented version of it, "The Well Educated Mind" when researching options for our kids' education as well. Best of luck to you and your family in your reading!
Memoria Press has excellent books for classical teaching. I used a lot of their materials when teaching my youngest. She is 22 and has two associate degrees in accounting and business, and is now finishing up a bachelor’s degree in business management. I didn’t send her off to college because colleges are basically expensive cesspools of poisonous thinking.
We need more podcasts like this.
Thanks Trey! Going is a little slow on my end for more stuff like this because I'm in the final month of my PhD. After that, I'm hoping to ramp up this project.
@@ThinkingWest don't put much pressure on yourself, the field is wide open. We need a different and interesting approach to draw the new generation closer towards the great books and this could be it. Good luck to you mate.
I put this on whilst driving and it was unbelievably enjoyable. I can tell this is a labour of love for you.
Thanks! It certainly is.
I am so glad I found your channel. I have watched 4 of your videos. Interesting enough I was reading the Psalms in my King James Bible this week. I take notes in my journals all the time and write using cursive handwriting and I love calligraphy. Your channel is very informative.
Amazing video, i bought them all in December 2021 and started my journey on this priceless reading. In my estimates, i should take between 5-7 years to complete considering i am also reading between 40-52 parallel books per year, including work activities, but i will definitely finish it and redo it immediately after. I hope i can do this cycle a couple times at least through my life, as i am 34 years old now.
Fantastic. You must be quite the avid reader - much more than myself these days. I'm finding it quite difficult to read significantly. I get perhaps 30 minutes at night, and about 30 minutes in the morning with my current work and family balance. I'll be lucky to finish the "10 year" readings in 20 years! Nonetheless, I enjoy the journey and making these videos.
@@ThinkingWest the habit is more important than speed, so keep it up bro! We're both in the right path. :)
Amen!
2 years late to the party, but still excited!!
Never too late!
Love your podcast! I purchased both the Harvard Classics and Brittanancia's Greatest Books of the West sets. I slowly started to read them via their reading plan but found that I wanted to share my journey with others that valued these books well. And then I found your podcast! A+
Awesome, thanks! More coming soon.
I've read all 60 volumes of the Great Books. It took me 5 years.
I will be lucky if it takes me 20 at the rate I'm reading at.
i read through "The Great Books of the Western World" when i was 13 through 16 and used the Syntopicon with the collection...it is the best thing I ever did for myself
You were automatically more educated than 99.9% after that feat.
I ordered my set from eBay today...a 1990 second edition...all 60 books in the complete set.
Great find Vanessa! Hopefully they all make it to you intact.
@@ThinkingWest I was lucky. The set is like new condition. It's absolutely beautiful! I paid $765 for the set from a retired attorney.
@@vanessa271 Wow! Congrats. Hold onto them for many years to come. I look forward to passing mine on to my kids one day,
@@ThinkingWest Thank you very much! I got the second printing 1991.
I must add that I read the syntopican .it was excellent and dealt with various topics. But.when I read montaigne I couldn't get what he's saying.I would cliff notes then.
Reading the syntopican cover to cover sounds like a rollercoaster of a read.
Have you found a way or resource to tackle the difficulty of finding individuals that are in the same great books you are currently in?
Ha, sadly no. There is a great books google group that mostly converses via email, but a new cohort jumped in within the last year or so and added a video meeting element to that group. I believe they are still on Year 1. It would be great if there were a "matchmaking" app or site to jump into that would pair those reading the same books into groups.
Conversation is a lost art.
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Is there a scholarship for this set? Thanks
Not that I'm aware of.
@@ThinkingWest Perhaps post in craigslist or nextdoor that you want a set. Many old or downsizing folk would be happy to find an appreciative 'good home' for their set.
@@docglidewell Certainly worth a shot!
Perhaps omitting the Bible our society is as it is and you’re great books lack
I don't disagree with the sentiment, but they omitted the Bible from the set because they assumed everyone already had one.
Your podcast will help .but your marketing of great books is out of sync with today's world.readers are vanishing.low attention spans, video games, metaverse attracts gen z. I'm a voracious reader and though.I ordered it for the company I worked for I didn't open a.single book. Why because every great book is dense.it requires mental heavy lifting.you need.podcasts. you need.a tutor.a place to get answers to questions. In this age of online courses and people ready to answer questions your qreat books want us to be solitary readers and walk alone. You have to have a group of expert professors to answer our doubts especially when you call it the great conversation. I'm a minor writer, once upon an english teacher, postgraduate in literature and also a human resource trainer and I don't like heavy reading. So I'm saying this in the hope that the great books a wonderful idea will have a regular university or open university or tutorial to guide readers. As for great.books.of the east.there are thousands of good books and gurus and teachers in India.its western books that need to be read by people when liberalism is crumbling.I.hope my sincere humble submission will help you.sadly, I'm too old to try to read them.thank you
You are right everything we're working toward is out of sync with the culture. Hence I hope the CZcams videos help in the digital world.
What is this?
An audio for an introduction to the "Great Books" - those classic works that have built on the best ideas man has mustered over the past 2500 years.
Well, I compliment you on your "noble" effort....however, the 'noble effort' is obviously lacking in being well-sourced!
Instead of yammering about what YOU think - highly recommend showing a good dose of humility and letting others speak for you. Ecclesiastes 12:11-12 is 100% applicable. For those that seek knowledge, wisdom & have modicum of humility, the whole Book & specifically the entire 12th chapter is applicable to pontificating about "Great Books" of the Western World.
I don't pretend to tell anyone that what's found in the "Great Books" is the answer to life, or offers any meaning in themselves. The Bible is the supreme book of Western Civ and all these other books are in some ways either a prelude or a footnote to it. I just like talking about ideas and history - and these books are a great mode to do it.
@@ThinkingWest ...."Darwin on the biological sciences"? Come on man, he has been routinely discredited by successive generations of great researchers and thinkers. But keep trying!