How to Read

The Great Books and the Three Transcendentals

Medieval philosophy, building on Aristotle, developed a notion of three “Transcendentals” – aspects of Being itself, but beyond the instantiation of Being in particular beings:

• BEAUTY – the enduring object of aesthetic perception

• TRUTH – the enduring object of philosophic or scientific questioning

• GOODNESS – the enduring object or spiritual / moral education

In approaching the Great Books for the purposes of the education of the soul, then, we could begin by asking ourselves in what ways the work in question manifests these "Transcendentals":

Beauty

• Poetics: In what ways is beauty disclosed in the poetic qualities of the verse or prose? (for instance, metaphoric devices, “epic simile”)

• Structure: In what ways is beauty disclosed in the overall structure of the work? (in the plot, or in the chiastic structure, for instance)

• Genre: In what ways does the work creatively define or redefine the literary form for tradition that follows?

Truth

• Cosmos: In what ways does the work call one to behold the cosmos in a state of awe, or generate primordial questions concerning beings as a whole (the point of departure of ontology / metaphysics)

• Community: In what ways does the work call one to question the proper relations of oneself to others a community (the point of departure of ethics and political philosophy)

• Self: In what ways does the work cause the reader to critically examine themselves and what they think they know (the point of departure of epistemology and psychology)

Goodness

• Gratitude: To what extent does the work teach the reader the value of humility and gratitude in the face of the mystery of existence?

• Purpose: To what extent does the work lead the reader to consider the purpose or telos of their life?

• Meaning: To what extent does the work lead the reader to consider the underlying meaning of their life in the face of mortality and the transience of life?