Review Articles Syntopicon to * Kempis, Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Ben John- son, Moliere, Vico, Leibnitz, Voltaire, Mal- Great Books of the Western W orld ; Encyclo- thus, Stendhal, Balzac, Thoreau, Nietzsche, pedia Britannica, Inc. in collaboration with Kierkegaard, Mark Twain, Dewey, Shaw, the University of Chicago, Robert M. Tawney, Toynbee, and Einstein, especially Hutchins, editor-in-chief, vols. 2-3. The the last. If it be answered that Einstein is Great : Syntopicon. difficult, the same objection would apply to Newton who is included. In fact, the inclu- It may be said that no sion of eighteen mathematicians and scientists Tracing of Great Books enthusiast is hardly desirable, as most of them are I niportant Ideas can make an unbiased scarcely readable and fail to represent many appraisal of the 54 vol- of the . Two volumes each to Aristotle umes set of Great Books of the Western and Thomas Aquinas are disproportionate. World. Perhaps this is true. Should we here In the main the works of in apply the method used in Great Books dis- and prose be enjoyed as they were cussions, we would differ, we would argue, be meant to be. Broad representation is given obliged to defend our opinions, and emerge to the philosophers—idealists, realists, ration- bowing to no authority and finding no ready- alists, materialists, empiricists, and pragma- made solutions. In the usual manner we tists—from Plato to James. The latter may might ask: be classified along with Freud as a psychol- What is this set? Is it a reference work? ogist. There will be slight objection to these Does it give information? Why a set of or to the biographies, , and the writ- books? What is its purpose? Does it ac- ings on politics and economics. complish its purpose? How can a few peo- How does this collection stand as a refer- ple decide what is to be included? Does this ence work? Of late there has been renewed canonize certain books? Is it true that it interest in broader topics. One question re- "argues no case, presents no point of view?" cently asked of a librarian was "Did Plato Is the theory of the Great Convefsation itself write about the educated man?" By looking a point of view? How can a list with only under the topic in the one twentieth-century writer be meaningful? Syntopicon the searcher will find Reference I, The ends What good are ideas? Are the 102 Great of education, with twelve references to Plato, Ideas important? What do you think of an and la, The ideal of the educated man, with index such as the Syntopicon which begins ten references to Plato. In addition are with the topic, Angelf Why should there be twenty-three references from Aristotle to an introductory essay on each of the Great William James under the first, and thirty- Ideasf Is this a violation of the three from Homer to Freud under the second. that the great books should speak for them- The reader realizes that this is not the usual selves? Is using the set a joy or a chore? type of reference work from which informa- Since a discussion of these and many tion or facts are sought and quickly obtained. questions by means of the Socratic method Overwhelmed at first, he finds slow. would consume more than is at our dis- But he does locate exact information from posal, a quick examination of the more im- following the references under the "Republic" portant questions must suffice. and the "" of Plato. If he is interested The Great Books participant would im- in ideas or in information concerning ideas, mediately ask why certain writers included he will find this an invaluable tool. The on the Great Books lists should be omitted. Syntopicon sends him on to writers in the set Among these are Cicero, Lucian, Sextus Era- and to others outside the list. The system piricus, Boethius, St. Anselm, Thomas a of detailed indexing in the Syntopicon supple- * This composite review was assembled through the ments the broad topics of the texts. The for- efforts of Frances Stalker, head, Reference Department, mat is attractive, although the double columns Indianapolis Public Library.

204 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES may not appeal to the reader of literary works. It is to be hoped that some way of circulating Have the 400,000 hours of work which them may be found. There is nothing final have gone into making this set of the works of about them, for as the editors have told us, seventy-six authors been worth the effort? each generation should evaluate its tradition Why such hard readings? It may be replied in the light of its own needs. The test applied that no easy way of thinking has yet been de- to other works of man should be applied to vised. Anyone who has studied worth while this. Whether it is a great and useful work, authors has found that certain themes run only time will tell.—Margaret Pierson, In- through them. These themes recur because diana State Library. they deal with the hopes, wishes, joys, anx- ieties, and of man. Man changes, but When is an index a syn- he is essentially man, as he was thirty cen- V ariations on an topicon ? turies ago. He is inescapably concerned with Index The/ne According to the edi- questions about himself, his surroundings, tor a syntopicon is "a , freedom. These questions are collection of the topics which are the main again and again appearing and will continue theme of the conversation to be found in the to appear. The twentieth century has the books ... its primary purpose—to serve as a old problems of wars, persecution, and en- guide to the reading of Great Books of the slavement. The great writings are considered Western World. . . . great because of their , insight, or pro- "The specific type of inquiry which the found discussion of man's problems. The Syntopicon is able to satisfy . . . can be for- editors of the Syntopicon did not make an mulated by the question, What do the great arbitrary list. They included many of the books have to say on this subject?" ideas which man has had. There may and There is much more explanation in the 80- should be differences of opinion concerning page essay about the and methods the inclusion of certain of them. By placing of syntopical construction, which is appendix these books in a set and providing them with II of the Syntopicon s second volume. But an index, the editors have made possible the it all adds up to the fact that a syntopicon is tracing of important ideas. another variation in the numerous attempts to It is true that the great writers often failed improve the index as a locator of information in their day. They did not always stop wars buried in sets of books and periodicals or in or save civilizations. They warned their individual volumes of collections. countrymen, but their voices were not heard. Basically, the Syntopicon consists of In retrospect we should be able to interpret 163,000 entries. This number, alone, makes it what they said. Some were, from our point a major index. It compares in size with the of view, reactionary or false. For this very larger indexes to encyclopedias and other they may be worth our attention. basic reference books. The same publisher's Since the great writers often disagree, this Encyclopedia Britannica with some 500,000 set cannot be said to be a canonization of index entries, as well as the Americana and them. Many of them are ancient, but more Collier's Encyclopedias, include larger in- than one-half of them lived between 1500 and dexes. So do such separate indexing ventures 1900 A.D. If anyone would understand the as the Essay and General Literature Index American , let him read Locke as and any one of several other Wilson indexes. well as "The Declaration of Independence," But the Syntopicon is in this class of indexing "The Federalist," and "The of and as such deserves close scrutiny by li- the United States." He will derive benefit brarianship as a possible innovation in the from contemporary books, but he will be less and technique of indexing. easily indoctrinated if he reads and thinks The first difference to note is the unique about these basic works. application of three basic indexing arrange- The Great Books of the Western World ments — alphabetic, classified, chronologic. are only some of the books that are worth There are 102 "ideas" (major heads in index reading. They should have their chance along parlance) arranged alphabetically from with others. They will be used as teachers "" through "World." Selection of these and librarians let people know that they exist. heads in preference to others is based on no

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