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The great books are those books that are thought to constitute an essential foundation in the literature of Western culture. Specified sets of great books typically range from 100–150, though they differ according to purpose and context. For instance, some lists are built to be read by undergraduates in a college semester system (130 books, Torrey Honors Institute), some are compiled to be sold as a single set of volumes (500 books, Mortimer Adler), while some lists aim at a thorough literary criticism (2,400 books, Harold Bloom).〔(【引用サイトリンク】first=Robert )〕 ==Concept== The great books are those that tradition, and various institutions and authorities, have regarded as constituting or best expressing the foundations of Western culture (the Western canon is a similar but broader designation); derivatively the term also refers to a curriculum or method of education based around a list of such books. Mortimer Adler lists three criteria for including a book on the list: * the book has contemporary significance; that is, it has relevance to the problems and issues of our times; * the book is inexhaustible; it can be read again and again with benefit; "This is an exacting criterion, an ideal that is fully attained by only a small number of the 511 works that we selected. It is approximated in varying degrees by the rest."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Selecting Works for the 1990 Edition of the Great Books of the Western World ) 〕 * the book is relevant to a large number of the great ideas and great issues that have occupied the minds of thinking individuals for the last 25 centuries.〔Adler, "Second Look", pg 142〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「great books」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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