Great Books of the Western World is a series of books originally published in the United States in 1952, by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., to present the Great Books in a 54-volume set.
The original editors had three criteria for including a book in the series: the book must be relevant to contemporary matters, and not only important in its historical context; it must be rewarding to re-read; and it must be a part of "the great conversation about the great ideas", relevant to at least 25 of the 102 great ideas identified by the editors. The books were not chosen on the basis of ethnic and cultural inclusiveness, historical influence, or the editors' agreement with the views expressed by the authors.
Initial sales were poor, so the sales strategy switched to a door-to-door operation which was much more successful.
A second edition was published in 1990 in 60 volumes. Some translations were updated, some works were removed, and there were significant additions from the 20th century.
The project for the Great Books of the Western World began at the University of Chicago, where the president, Robert Hutchins, collaborated with Mortimer Adler to develop a course — generally aimed at businesspeople — for the purpose of filling the gaps in their liberal education; to render the reader as an intellectually rounded man or woman familiar with the Great Books of the Western canon, and knowledgeable of the great ideas developed in the course of three millennia. An original student of the project was William Benton (later a U.S. senator, and then chief executive officer of the Encyclopædia Britannica publishing company) who proposed selecting the greatest books of the Western canon, and that Hutchins and Adler produce unabridged editions for publication, by Encyclopædia Britannica. Yet, Hutchins was wary of such a business endeavour, fearing that the books would be sold as a product, thereby devaluing them as cultural artefacts; nevertheless, he agreed to the business deal, and was paid $60,000 for the project.
After deciding what subjects and authors to include, and how to present the materials, the project was begun, with a budget of $2,000,000. On April 15, 1952, the Great Books of the Western World were presented at a publication party in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, in New York City. In his speech, Hutchins said, "This is more than a set of books, and more than a liberal education. Great Books of the Western World is an act of piety. Here are the sources of our being. Here is our heritage. This is the West. This is its meaning for mankind." The first two sets of books were given to Elizabeth II, Queen of the U.K., and to Harry S. Truman, the incumbent U.S. President.
The initial sales of the book sets were poor, with only 1,863 sets sold in 1952, and less than one-tenth of that number of book sets were sold in 1953. A financial debacle loomed until Encyclopædia Britannica altered the sales strategy, and sold the book set through experienced door-to-door encyclopædia-salesmen, as Hutchins had feared; but, through that method, 50,000 sets were sold in 1961. In 1963 the editors published Gateway to the Great Books, a ten-volume set of readings meant to introduce the authors and the subjects of the Great Books. Each year, from 1961 to 1998, the editors published The Great Ideas Today, an annual updating about the applicability of the Great Books to contemporary life. The Internet and the E-book reader have made available some of the Great Books of the Western World in an on-line format.
On March 9, 1976, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission entered an opinion and order enjoining Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., from using: a) deceptive advertising practices in recruiting sales agents and obtaining sales leads, and b) deceptive sales practices in the door-to-door presentations of its sales agents.
Originally published in 54 volumes, The Great Books of the Western World covers categories including fiction, history, poetry, natural science, mathematics, philosophy, drama, politics, religion, economics, and ethics. Hutchins wrote the first volume, titled The Great Conversation, as an introduction and discourse on liberal education. Adler sponsored the next two volumes, "The Great Ideas: A Syntopicon", as a way of emphasizing the unity of the set and, by extension, of Western thought in general. A team of indexers spent months compiling references to such topics as "Man's freedom in relation to the will of God" and "The denial of void or vacuum in favor of a plenum". They grouped the topics into 102 chapters, for which Adler wrote 102 introductions. Four colors identify each volume by subject area—Imaginative Literature, Mathematics and the Natural Sciences, History and Social Science, and Philosophy and Theology. The volumes contained the following works:
Volume 1
The Great ConversationVolume 2
Syntopicon I: Angel, Animal, Aristocracy, Art, Astronomy, Beauty, Being, Cause, Chance, Change, Citizen, Constitution, Courage, Custom and Convention, Definition, Democracy, Desire, Dialectic, Duty, Education, Element, Emotion, Eternity, Evolution, Experience, Family, Fate, Form, God, Good and Evil, Government, Habit, Happiness, History, Honor, Hypothesis, Idea, Immortality, Induction, Infinity, Judgment, Justice, Knowledge, Labor, Language, Law, Liberty, Life and Death, Logic, and LoveVolume 3
Syntopicon II: Man, Mathematics, Matter, Mechanics, Medicine, Memory and Imagination, Metaphysics, Mind, Monarchy, Nature, Necessity and Contingency, Oligarchy, One and Many, Opinion, Opposition, Philosophy, Physics, Pleasure and Pain, Poetry, Principle, Progress, Prophecy, Prudence, Punishment, Quality, Quantity, Reasoning, Relation, Religion, Revolution, Rhetoric, Same and Other, Science, Sense, Sign and Symbol, Sin, Slavery, Soul, Space, State, Temperance, Theology, Time, Truth, Tyranny, Universal and Particular, Virtue and Vice, War and Peace, Wealth, Will, Wisdom, and WorldVolume 4
Homer (rendered into English prose by Samuel Butler)The IliadThe OdysseyVolume 5
Aeschylus (translated into English verse by G.M. Cookson)The Suppliant MaidensThe PersiansSeven Against ThebesPrometheus BoundThe OresteiaAgamemnonChoephoroeThe EumenidesSophocles (translated into English prose by Sir Richard C. Jebb)The Oedipus CycleOedipus the KingOedipus at ColonusAntigoneAjaxElectraThe TrachiniaePhiloctetesEuripides (translated into English prose by Edward P. Coleridge)RhesusMedeaHippolytusAlcestisHeracleidaeThe SuppliantsTrojan WomenIonHelenAndromacheElectraBacchantesHecubaHeracles MadPhoenician WomenOrestesIphigeneia in TaurisIphigeneia at AulisCyclopsAristophanes (translated into English verse by Benjamin Bickley Rogers)The AcharniansThe KnightsThe CloudsThe WaspsPeaceThe BirdsThe FrogsLysistrataThesmophoriazusaeEcclesiazousaePlutusVolume 6
HerodotusThe History (translated by George Rawlinson)ThucydidesHistory of the Peloponnesian War (translated by Richard Crawley and revised by R. Feetham)Volume 7
PlatoThe Dialogues (translated by Benjamin Jowett)CharmidesLysisLachesProtagorasEuthydemusCratylusPhaedrusIonSymposiumMenoEuthyphroApologyCritoPhaedoGorgiasThe RepublicTimaeusCritiasParmenidesTheaetetusSophistStatesmanPhilebusLawsThe Seventh Letter (translated by J. Harward)Volume 8
AristotleCategoriesOn InterpretationPrior AnalyticsPosterior AnalyticsTopicsSophistical RefutationsPhysicsOn the HeavensOn Generation and CorruptionMeteorologyMetaphysicsOn the SoulMinor biological worksVolume 9
AristotleHistory of AnimalsParts of AnimalsOn the Motion of AnimalsOn the Gait of AnimalsOn the Generation of AnimalsNicomachean EthicsPoliticsThe Athenian ConstitutionRhetoricPoeticsVolume 10
HippocratesWorksGalenOn the Natural FacultiesVolume 11
EuclidThe Thirteen Books of Euclid's ElementsArchimedesOn the Sphere and CylinderMeasurement of a CircleOn Conoids and SpheroidsOn SpiralsOn the Equilibrium of PlanesThe Sand ReckonerThe Quadrature of the ParabolaOn Floating BodiesBook of LemmasThe Method Treating of Mechanical ProblemsApollonius of PergaOn Conic SectionsNicomachus of GerasaIntroduction to ArithmeticVolume 12
LucretiusOn the Nature of Things (translated by H.A.J. Munro)EpictetusThe Discourses (translated by George Long)Marcus AureliusThe Meditations (translated by George Long)Volume 13
VirgilEcloguesGeorgicsAeneidVolume 14
PlutarchThe Lives of the Noble Grecians and RomansVolume 15
P. Cornelius Tacitus (translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb)The AnnalsThe HistoriesVolume 16
PtolemyAlmagest, part 1 (translated by R. Catesby Taliaferro)Nicolaus CopernicusOn the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres (translated by Charles Glenn Wallis)Johannes Kepler (translated by Charles Glenn Wallis)Epitome of Copernican Astronomy (Books IV–V)The Harmonies of the World (Book V)Volume 17
PlotinusThe Six EnneadsVolume 18
Augustine of HippoThe ConfessionsThe City of GodOn Christian DoctrineVolume 19
Thomas AquinasSumma Theologica (First part complete, selections from second part, translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province and revised by Daniel J. Sullivan)Volume 20
Thomas AquinasSumma Theologica (Selections from second and third parts and supplement, translated by the Fathers of the English Dominican Province and revised by Daniel J. Sullivan)Volume 21
Dante AlighieriThe Divine Comedy (Translated by Charles Eliot Norton)Volume 22
Geoffrey ChaucerTroilus and CriseydeThe Canterbury TalesVolume 23
Niccolò MachiavelliThe PrinceThomas HobbesLeviathanVolume 24
François RabelaisGargantua and PantagruelVolume 25
Michel Eyquem de MontaigneEssaysVolume 26
William ShakespeareThe First Part of King Henry the SixthThe Second Part of King Henry the SixthThe Third Part of King Henry the SixthThe Tragedy of Richard the ThirdThe Comedy of ErrorsTitus AndronicusThe Taming of the ShrewThe Two Gentlemen of VeronaLove's Labour's LostRomeo and JulietThe Tragedy of King Richard the SecondA Midsummer Night's DreamThe Life and Death of King JohnThe Merchant of VeniceThe First Part of King Henry the FourthThe Second Part of King Henry the FourthMuch Ado About NothingThe Life of King Henry the FifthJulius CaesarAs You Like ItVolume 27
William ShakespeareTwelfth Night; or, What You WillThe Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of DenmarkThe Merry Wives of WindsorTroilus and CressidaAll's Well That Ends WellMeasure for MeasureOthello, the Moor of VeniceKing LearMacbethAntony and CleopatraCoriolanusTimon of AthensPericles, Prince of TyreCymbelineThe Winter's TaleThe TempestThe Famous History of the Life of King Henry the EighthSonnetsVolume 28
William GilbertOn the Loadstone and Magnetic BodiesGalileo GalileiDialogues Concerning the Two New SciencesWilliam HarveyOn the Motion of the Heart and Blood in AnimalsOn the Circulation of BloodOn the Generation of AnimalsVolume 29
Miguel de CervantesThe History of Don Quixote de la ManchaVolume 30
Sir Francis BaconThe Advancement of LearningNovum OrganumNew AtlantisVolume 31
René DescartesRules for the Direction of the MindDiscourse on the MethodMeditations on First PhilosophyObjections Against the Meditations and RepliesThe GeometryBenedict de SpinozaEthicsVolume 32
John MiltonEnglish Minor PoemsParadise LostSamson AgonistesAreopagiticaVolume 33
Blaise PascalThe Provincial LettersPenséesScientific and mathematical essaysVolume 34
Sir Isaac NewtonMathematical Principles of Natural PhilosophyOpticsChristian HuygensTreatise on LightVolume 35
John LockeA Letter Concerning TolerationConcerning Civil Government, Second EssayAn Essay Concerning Human UnderstandingGeorge BerkeleyThe Principles of Human KnowledgeDavid HumeAn Enquiry Concerning Human UnderstandingVolume 36
Jonathan SwiftGulliver's TravelsLaurence SterneThe Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, GentlemanVolume 37
Henry FieldingThe History of Tom Jones, a FoundlingVolume 38
Charles de Secondat, Baron de MontesquieuThe Spirit of the LawsJean Jacques RousseauA Discourse on the Origin of InequalityA Discourse on Political EconomyThe Social ContractVolume 39
Adam SmithAn Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of NationsVolume 40
Edward GibbonThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Part 1)Volume 41
Edward GibbonThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Part 2)Volume 42
Immanuel KantCritique of Pure ReasonFundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of MoralsCritique of Practical ReasonExcerpts from The Metaphysics of MoralsPreface and Introduction to the Metaphysical Elements of Ethics with a note on ConscienceGeneral Introduction to the Metaphysic of MoralsThe Science of RightThe Critique of JudgementVolume 43
American State PapersDeclaration of IndependenceArticles of ConfederationThe Constitution of the United States of AmericaAlexander Hamilton, James Madison, John JayThe FederalistJohn Stuart MillOn LibertyConsiderations on Representative GovernmentUtilitarianismVolume 44
James BoswellThe Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.Volume 45
Antoine Laurent LavoisierElements of ChemistryJean Baptiste Joseph FourierAnalytical Theory of HeatMichael FaradayExperimental Researches in ElectricityVolume 46
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelThe Philosophy of RightThe Philosophy of HistoryVolume 47
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheFaustVolume 48
Herman MelvilleMoby Dick; or, The WhaleVolume 49
Charles DarwinThe Origin of Species by Means of Natural SelectionThe Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to SexVolume 50
Karl MarxCapitalKarl Marx and Friedrich EngelsManifesto of the Communist PartyVolume 51
Count Leo TolstoyWar and PeaceVolume 52
Fyodor Mikhailovich DostoevskyThe Brothers KaramazovVolume 53
William JamesThe Principles of PsychologyVolume 54
Sigmund FreudThe Origin and Development of Psycho-AnalysisSelected Papers on HysteriaThe Sexual Enlightenment of ChildrenThe Future Prospects of Psycho-Analytic TherapyObservations on "Wild" Psycho-AnalysisThe Interpretation of DreamsOn NarcissismInstincts and Their VicissitudesRepressionThe UnconsciousA General Introduction to Psycho-AnalysisBeyond the Pleasure PrincipleGroup Psychology and the Analysis of the EgoThe Ego and the IdInhibitions, Symptoms, and AnxietyThoughts for the Times on War and DeathCivilization and Its DiscontentsNew Introductory Lectures on Psycho-AnalysisThe second edition of Great Books of the Western World, 1990, saw an increase from 54 to 60 volumes, with updated translations. The six new volumes concerned the 20th century, an era of which the first edition's sole representative was Freud. Some of the other volumes were re-arranged, with even more pre-20th century material added but with four texts deleted: Apollonius' On Conic Sections, Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, and Joseph Fourier's Analytical Theory of Heat. Adler later expressed regret about dropping On Conic Sections and Tom Jones. Adler also voiced disagreement with the addition of Voltaire's Candide, and said that the Syntopicon should have included references to the Koran. He addressed criticisms that the set was too heavily Western European and did not adequately represent women and minority authors.
The added pre-20th century texts appear in these volumes (some of the accompanying content of these volumes differs from the first edition volume of that number):
Volume 20
John CalvinInstitutes of the Christian Religion (Selections)Volume 23
ErasmusThe Praise of FollyVolume 31
MolièreThe School for WivesThe Critique of the School for WivesTartuffeDon JuanThe MiserThe Would-Be GentlemanThe Imaginary InvalidJean RacineBérénicePhèdreVolume 34
VoltaireCandideDenis DiderotRameau's NephewVolume 43
Søren KierkegaardFear and TremblingFriedrich NietzscheBeyond Good and EvilVolume 44
Alexis de TocquevilleDemocracy in AmericaVolume 45
Honoré de BalzacCousin BetteVolume 46
Jane AustenEmmaGeorge EliotMiddlemarchVolume 47
Charles DickensLittle DorritVolume 48
Mark TwainHuckleberry FinnVolume 52
Henrik IbsenA Doll's HouseThe Wild DuckHedda GablerThe Master BuilderThe contents of the six volumes of added 20th-century material:
Volume 55
William JamesPragmatismHenri Bergson"An Introduction to Metaphysics"John DeweyExperience and EducationAlfred North WhiteheadScience and the Modern WorldBertrand RussellThe Problems of PhilosophyMartin HeideggerWhat Is Metaphysics?Ludwig WittgensteinPhilosophical InvestigationsKarl BarthThe Word of God and the Word of ManVolume 56
Henri PoincaréScience and HypothesisMax PlanckScientific Autobiography and Other PapersAlfred North WhiteheadAn Introduction to MathematicsAlbert EinsteinRelativity: The Special and the General TheoryArthur EddingtonThe Expanding UniverseNiels BohrAtomic Theory and the Description of Nature (selections)Discussion with Einstein on EpistemologyG. H. HardyA Mathematician's ApologyWerner HeisenbergPhysics and PhilosophyErwin SchrödingerWhat Is Life?Theodosius DobzhanskyGenetics and the Origin of SpeciesC. H. WaddingtonThe Nature of LifeVolume 57
Thorstein VeblenThe Theory of the Leisure ClassR. H. TawneyThe Acquisitive SocietyJohn Maynard KeynesThe General Theory of Employment, Interest and MoneyVolume 58
Sir James George FrazerThe Golden Bough (selections)Max WeberEssays in Sociology (selections)Johan HuizingaThe Autumn of the Middle AgesClaude Lévi-StraussStructural Anthropology (selections)Volume 59
Henry JamesThe Beast in the JungleGeorge Bernard ShawSaint JoanJoseph ConradHeart of DarknessAnton ChekhovUncle VanyaLuigi PirandelloSix Characters in Search of an AuthorMarcel ProustRemembrance of Things Past: "Swann in Love"Willa CatherA Lost LadyThomas MannDeath in VeniceJames JoyceA Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManVolume 60
Virginia WoolfTo the LighthouseFranz KafkaThe MetamorphosisD. H. LawrenceThe Prussian OfficerT. S. EliotThe Waste LandEugene O'NeillMourning Becomes ElectraF. Scott FitzgeraldThe Great GatsbyWilliam FaulknerA Rose for EmilyBertolt BrechtMother Courage and Her ChildrenErnest HemingwayThe Short Happy Life of Francis MacomberGeorge OrwellAnimal FarmSamuel BeckettWaiting for GodotThe choice of authors has come under attack, with some dismissing the project as a celebration of dead European males, ignoring contributions of women and non-European authors. The criticism swelled in tandem with the feminist and civil rights movements. Similarly, in his Europe: A History, Norman Davies criticizes the compilation for overrepresenting selected parts of the western world, especially Britain and the U.S., while ignoring the other, particularly Central and Eastern Europe. According to his calculation, in 151 authors included in both editions, there are 49 English or American authors, 27 Frenchmen, 20 Germans, 15 ancient Greeks, 9 ancient Romans, 6 Russians, 4 Scandinavians, 3 Spaniards, 3 Italians, 3 Irishmen, 3 Scots, and 3 Eastern Europeans. Prejudices and preferences, he concludes, are self-evident.
In response, such criticisms have been derided as ad hominem and biased in themselves. The counter-argument maintains that such criticisms discount the importance of books solely because of generic, imprecise and possibly irrelevant characteristics of the books' authors, rather than because of the content of the books themselves.
Others thought that while the selected authors were worthy, too much emphasis was placed on the complete works of a single author rather than a wider selection of authors and representative works (for instance, all of Shakespeare's plays are included). The second edition of the set already contained 130 authors and 517 individual works. The editors point out that the guides to additional reading for each topic in the Syntopicon refer the interested reader to many more authors.
The scientific and mathematical selections came under criticism for being incomprehensible to the average reader, especially with the absence of any sort of critical apparatus. The second edition did drop two scientific works, by Apollonius and Fourier, in part because of their perceived difficulty for the average reader. Nevertheless, the editors steadfastly maintain that average readers are capable of understanding far more than the critics deem possible. Robert Hutchins stated this view in the introduction to the first edition:
Because the great bulk of mankind have never had the chance to get a liberal education, it cannot be "proved" that they can get it. Neither can it be "proved" that they cannot. The statement of the ideal, however, is of value in indicating the direction that education should take.
Since the great majority of the works were still in print, one critic noted that the company could have saved two million dollars and simply written a list. Encyclopædia Britannica's aggressive promotion produced solid sales. Dense formatting also did not help readability.
The second edition selected translations that were generally considered an improvement, though the cramped typography remained. Through reading plans and the Syntopicon, the editors have attempted to guide readers through the set.
The editors responded that the set contains wide-ranging debates representing many viewpoints on significant issues, not a monolithic school of thought. Mortimer Adler argued in the introduction to the second edition:
Presenting a wide variety and divergence of views or opinions, among which there is likely to be some truth but also much more error, the
Syntopicon [and by extension the larger set itself] invites readers to think for themselves and make up their own minds on every topic under consideration.
