How to Mark a Book

Mortimer J. Adler, Ph.D., 1n The Saturday Review of Literature (via Stevenson College.

"Confusion about what it means to "own" a book leads people to a false reverence for paper, binding, and type -- a respect for the physical thing -- the craft of the printer rather than the genius of the author. They forget that it is possible for a man to acquire the idea, to possess the beauty, which a great book contains, without staking his claim by pasting his bookplate inside the cover. Having a fine library doesn't prove that its owner has a mind enriched by books; it proves nothing more than that he, his father, or his wife, was rich enough to buy them."

Reading Rat - October 2023

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

Use This Three-Step Method to Read More Critically, by Lindsey Ellefson, lifehacker. "The structure-proposition-evaluation technique has been around since 1940, when philosopher and educator Mortimer Adler included it in his How to Read a Book: The Art of Getting a Liberal Education."

Chicago's Grumpy Guru

'Best-Selling Professor Allen Bloom on the Chicago Intellectuals', by James Atlas, The New York Times.

"In 1946, Allan Bloom entered the University of Chicago.

"Founded in 1891 with an initial gift of $600,000 from John D. Rockefeller, the University of Chicago was determined from the beginning to model itself upon Oxford, Cambridge and the great German universities - and to do so, noted a later president, Edward Levi, 'in a most unlikely geographical place.' Even Bloom can't entirely suppress his skepticism about the look of his alma mater, the 'fake Gothic buildings' surrounded by slums. 'But they pointed toward a road of learning that leads to the meeting place of the greats.'

"These aren't just words. Under the stewardship of Robert Maynard Hutchins, who began his legendary tenure as president of the university in 1929, Chicago became famous as an institution devoted to the higher learning. Mortimer Adler, recruited by Hutchins to serve as a resident intellectual guide, introduced a program devoted to the classics of Western literature, and, by the mid-1930's, what had begun as a course (General Honors 110) defined a milieu. Adler is much derided today - Bloom puts him down as a kind of equal opportunity intellectual. But for a precocious Midwestern boy like Bloom, Hyde Park was the Promised Land."

Reading Rat - September 2023

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

Dr. Daniel Wagner, Associate Professor, Director of Catholic Studies, and Chair of Philosophy as Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI, and Faculty Fellow at Lyceum Institute, on Reason, nature, and the human good in this Acton Line podcast via the Acton Institute, at YouTube.

How to Clean and Restore a Weathered Deck, by Ron Hazelton, deck board straightener, popping nails or drift punchded, wash and brightener using garden sprayer and light scrubbing with long-handled brush, rinse with presser washer, sealer using garden sprayer

Montaigne’s Body

Alexandra Baro at Commonplace.

In addition to ongoing reading groups and tutorials, the Catherine Project periodically hosts single seminars on short works. These two-hour conversations are a way to get a taste of our approach to group study with minimal commitment. The following essay was inspired by a Fall 2022 seminar on Montaigne’s essay "Of Pedantry".

See Montaigne, Essays, at Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 25, and Great Books of the Western World (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 23.

Reading Rat - August 2023

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

How to Listen and How to Speak, by Peter Redpath, review by Jason Morgan, The Review of Metaphysics, at Project Muse (in part)

Decision issued today in Hachette v. Internet Archive

Chris Freeland at Internet Archive Blogs.

Reading Rat - July 2023

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

(Noted on the shelves: Antaeus 21/22 Spring/Summer, 1976 "Special Essay Issue")

Antaeus, 1970-1994, Dreamers Rise

Antaeus Magazine, by J. D. O'Hara, The New York Times

'How an Unconventional Approach to Religion Helped Shape a Divided Nation'

Ted Widmer reviews Lincoln’s God: How Faith Transformed a President and a Nation, by Joshua Zeitz, at The New York Times.

As a young man, Lincoln was barely a Christian in the conventional sense. ...

"But a different Lincoln occupied the White House. If not a doctrinaire believer (he never joined a church), he clearly felt a deep connection to the Bible, which he read carefully. ..."

See Lincoln, "The Gettysburg Address", Gateway to the Great Books (10 Vol., 1963) volume 6.

See:
Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 54 Vol., 1952)

"Readers who are startled to find the Bible omitted from the set will be reassured to learn that this was done only because Bibles are already widely distributed, and it was felt unnecessary to bring another, by way of this set, into homes that had several already. References to the Bible are, however, included in both the King James and the Douai versions under the appropriate topics in the Syntopicon." (The Great Conversation, by Robert M. Hutchinsmm, volume 1, p. xvii). [Syntopicon is the title of the extensive topical index to the entire set.]

Great Books of the Western World (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990)

"References to Bible, when present, are always placed first. The Bible is not included as part of the set, since there is no definitive version acceptable to everyone." Introduction to The Syntopicon (vol. 1, p. xiv),

The Darwinian Emergence of Aristotle's Political Animals and de Waal's Moral Animals:

A Reply to Cheryl Abbate, by Larry Arnhart, at Darwinian Conservatism.

"Aristotle's statement that 'man is by nature a political animal' is famous. But it is often falsely assumed to mean that human beings are by nature the only political animals."

See Darwin, Autobiography, in Gateway to the Great Books (10 Vol., 1963) volume 8, The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man, in Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 49, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 49.

See Aristotle, Works, in Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volumes 8-9, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volumes 7-8.

Reading Rat - June 2023

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

The Simpsons Is Good Again: After 34 seasons, 750 episodes, and a decades-long funk, the show innovated its way back to popularity and relevance, by Jesse David Fox, Vulture

Man of letters, by Harry Mount, review of NB by J. C.: A Walk through the Times Literary Supplement, by James Campbell, at The New Criterion

Marcus Sher reviews Adam Smith’s America: How a Scottish Philosopher Became an Icon of American Capitalism, by Glory M. Liu, at The Independent Review

Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building, by Claire Hughes Johnson, review by Carl Lee Tolbert Ph.D, The Journal of Values Based Managment

Graveside Ministry Offers Small Commitment, Big Reward, by Larry Hanson, Milwaukee Catholic Herald

'A bracing constitutional'

Glenn Ellmers reviews Mere Natural Law: Originalism and the Anchoring Truths of the Constitution, by Hadley Arkes, at The New Criterion.

"All legitimate law, according to the founders' social-compact theory, is meant to reflect, not define, the principles of natural justice, which exist independently of human will. In other words, as Arkes pithily observes, there are 'truths that would be there even if there were no Constitution.'"

See the U.S. Constitution in American State Papers at Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 43, (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 40.

Kafka's Trials

Theodore Dalrymple reviewed The Diaries of Franz Kafka, translated by ross benjamin, at First Things.

See Kafka, "The Metamorphosis", in Great Books of the Western World (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 60.

Reading Rat - May 2023

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

"Google Has No Moat" in AI. A Fascinating Memo on the AI Market from Within Google. By Bret Kinsella, Synthedia

A Lawyer's Filing "Is Replete with Citations to Non-Existent Cases"—Thanks, ChatGPT? by Eugene Volokh, The Volokh Conspiracy

The Albemarle dynasty, by Brooke Allen, review of The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe by Kevin R. C. Gutzman, The New Crtierion

Thinking Smartly About Climate Change, by Bjorn Lomborg, Copenhagen Consensus Center, Imprimis

Reading Rat - April 2023

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

Al Jaffee, iconoclastic cartooning legend of Mad Magazine fame, dies at 102, by Jessica Gelt, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times

The Influence of Immanuel Kant on Evidentiary Approaches in Eighteenth Century Bulgaria

Orin S. Kerr, 18 The Green Bag 2d 251 (2015), at SSRN.

"In 2011, Chief Justice Roberts commented that if you 'pick up a copy of any law review that you see,' 'the first article is likely to be, you know, the influence of Immanuel Kant on evidentiary approaches in 18th-century Bulgaria, or something, which I'm sure was of great interest to the academic that wrote it, but isn't of much help to the bar.' No such article exists, of course -- until now. This short essay explains why, in all likelihood, Kant’s influence on evidentiary approaches in 18th-century Bulgaria was none."

See Kant, Perpetual Peace, in Gateway to the Great Books (10 Vol., 1963) volume 7; The Critique of Pure Reason, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Critique of Judgement, in Great Books of the Western World (first edition, 52 Vol., 1952) volume 42, and (second edition, 60 Vol., 1990) volume 39.

Reading Rat - March 2023

Aquinas Leadership International

Announcements

Events

Philosophy & Theology In Medieval Europe: Events, at Richard C. Taylor

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

Are science and religion fated to be adversaries? No, says Nicholas Spencer in Magisteria, an arresting history of their relationship, review at The Economist

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Aristotle: Politics
15. References and Further Reading
Secondary literature – general works on Aristotle
Adler, Mortimer. Aristotle for Everybody: Difficult Thought Made Easy. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1978.

"This is probably the easiest-to-read exposition of Aristotle available; Adler says that it is aimed at “everybody – of any age, from twelve or fourteen years upward.” Obviously the author has had to make some sacrifices in the areas of detail and complexity to accomplish this, and anyone who has spent any time at all with Aristotle will probably wish to start elsewhere. Nevertheless, the author succeeds to a very great degree in delivering on the promise of the subtitle, expressing the basics of Aristotle’s thought in simple language using common examples and straightforward descriptions."

Reading Rat - February 2023

Aquinas Leadership International

Announcements

Events

Selections at the blog Conference Calendar page

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

Archimedes’ Stomachion, Geometric Dissections, by Mircea Pitici

The 5 breweries that made Milwaukee famous: Miller, Schlitz, Pabst, Gettelman and Blatz, by Chris Foran, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Berres Tree Removal Service, another branch of the family at work.

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Screen shot from a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode's closing credits including my name as a contributor to the Season 13 Kickstarter campaign.

Abraham Lincoln: A Lawyer for the Ages

'From the Prairie to the Presidency-And Beyond'

The Thomas E. Fairchild Lecture, by John S. Skilton, University of Wisconsin Law School, Wisconsin Law Review.

"But how was this rather crude, physically awkward 'prairie lawyer' with no formal education to speak of, able to formulate such thoughts, assume such awesome responsibilities, and lead this Nation in its time of utmost peril? It is on these questions that I hope to shed some additional light."

See Lincoln, "The Gettysburg Address", Gateway to the Great Books (10 Vol., 1963) volume 6;
We Hold These Truths: Understanding the Ideas and Ideals of the Constitution, by Mortimer J. Adler, p. 194.

Reading Rat - January 2023

Aquinas Leadership International

Announcements

Events

Selections at the blog Conference Calendar page

Calendar for selected Book discussions groups

Articles, Essays, Reviews

Opiates of the Masses? Deaths of Despair and the Decline of American Religion, by Tyler Giles, Daniel M. Hungerman, and Tamar Oostrom, NBER Working Paper Series, Working Paper 30840, (via The Economist)

Peace in the Middle East?

'If I have another 10 years to live, I am sure that I will have the privilege of seeing peace come even to this dismal and wonderful and amazing part of the world.' --Shimon Peres, interview by Ronen Bergman, The New York Times, January 9, 2013