Life Outside the Ivory Tower

The twentieth century may be thought of as the century for Dewey, but it was the era of Mortimer Adler. The Adler Era was considered this partly because of his longevity but also included his authority within philosophy. As I began thinking about Adler and his contributions to the world of thought, I began considering him as an extra-ordinary person that lived life fully; yet, instead of slowing down to enjoy his “golden years” it is, in my opinion that he began to work harder as his years progressed. As Adler developed his thoughts and beliefs, he became a believer in absolute and universal truths and values; these truths and values include, but are not limited to, equal opportunity in the classroom for all students, regardless of his or her race, creed, color or economic background.

Biographic Information:

Mortimer Adler was born in 1902 in New York City to an immigrant jewelry salesman. At the age of fourteen, Adler quit school to begin working at New York Sun as a copy boy as he began dreaming of becoming a journalist. In hopes to become a great writer with better skills and to fulfill his longing, Adler soon began a night class at Columbia University. Columbia is where he first became in love with what later became The Great Books. One of the first encounters with philosophy was by reading the autobiography of John Stuart Mill and discovered that Mill had read Plato at the young age of five. Adler soon became captivated by Plato’s work, and began taking philosophy courses at Columbia University. Adler was greatly engrossed by philosophy and the great philosophers that he failed to complete a mandatory physical education course, which ended in the non-completion of his bachelor’s degree. Fascinatingly enough, a few years later, he was awarded a doctorate in philosophy by Columbia University due to his love and grasp of the classic writers. In the 1920s, Adler began his teachings at Columbia University and later met Professor Erskine, which was one of his key intellectual influences of his life. Adler also continued in an honor’s program with Professor Erskine, which gave him the opportunity to study the great works and classics of the ages. Adler’s inspiration for the Great Books of Western Civilization grew as he engaged with a prominent thinker, John Dewey. As Adler began thinking about the philosophies that he had studied, he began to introduce the idea that philosophy should be incorporated with other disciplines like science, literature, and religion. In 1927, Adler published Dialectic that summarized religious and great philosophical ideas of Western Civilization. In 1930, Adler received an invitation and joined the philosophy faculty at University of Chicago, which later resulted in disputes over his curriculum proposals and ideas such as the “The Radical Academy” which is what lead him to reassign to the Law School as a professor of the philosophy of law.

Before Adler’s idea of the “The Paideia Proposal” truly entered the world of education, many different styles of education were tried. From the founding of The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 1916, and the Progressive Education Association in 1919, to the GI Bill in 1944 and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS, in 1954. Each significant educational landmark brought to the forefront the need, in Adler’s eyes, for a dramatic change in how students not only received their education but how they chose to use it as well. Education was to be open to all, in a method that would allow everyone to get the same education because each child has the same properties as the child sitting next to them.

Contributions and Key Ideas:

Adler made many contributions to education before his enormous grand entrance with the Paideia Proposal. One of many contributions was The Great Books, which is what he devoted most of his time in the 1920s and 1930s. Adler believed that all colleges and universities should adopt The Great Books as a core requirement that focused on the key works of Western philosophy and literature. In this belief, Adler began a program at Columbia University known as the “Great Books” program, which required all undergraduates to take a one year-long class in “Masterpieces of Contemporary Civilization” plus a semester in “Masterpieces of Western Art” and Masterpieces of Western Music.” Adler is also known for helping with the founding of Aspen Institute where he taught business leaders about the “classics” for over forty years. Alder was also on the board of the Ford Foundation and the board of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Using the belief that philosophy should become part of the mainstream in public school curriculum, Adler felt that there were three things that every child must acquire