I can tell a lot of work went into the construction of this list. And as with all other such lists, it’s completely anglo or euro male dominated. Not a list for those of us interested in mankind’s great books. Although of course many of the books included here would make it into a list of Mankind’s Great Books. The problem here is what was left out.
It’s admirable to want to create a Mankind’s great books list but I’m not qualified to do that. I’m unable to deeply understand the Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Muslim cultures, for example, to begin to do this justice. I think few people are.
I’ve found in my extensive international travels, the best way to be cosmopolitan (a Greek word) is to have a deep understanding and appreciation of my own tradition, as I respect other cultures. Only by going deep into the Western Tradition can I truly appreciate its excellences and faults.
So, I can respect the non-duality tradition of Asian cultures while proudly saying I’m a product of the “Greek miracle.” Rationality, philosophy, and science were invented by the Ionian Greeks of Anatolia in 6th century BC. I discovered this by reading the pre-Socratic philosophers.
Yes, the list is male-heavy. But we can’t forget that the Western Tradition has many strong female role models.
I tell my daughters that the emblem of my alma mater West Point is not a Spartan helmet but the one that Athena wore. She was not only the goddess of war but also wisdom. A better role model than the wild, bezerker male god Ares. I wrote a recent newsletter piece where I explain that Athena was the first mentor. The fans of the recent Odyssey movie are seeing the divine mentor in action.
And Greek tragedy is full of formidable women who seize agency, speak truth to power, and drive the action—often at great personal cost. I’ve been inspired by heroines like Elektra, Medea and Antigone. Only by reading the great works of the playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides can you discover their great lessons.
Fair point. And still the western selection in this list left out a lot of great “Western” stuff that just so happens to have been written by Western women, western minorities and “non-Christian” Western writers
I went to St. John's for a Semester and studied under Eva Bran . I had to leave for health reasons which impacted my ability to perform. I have completed their reading list since then. Of this list I'd say some need prerequisite reading, like Plotinus. Others like the Summa Theologica I think are not worth the effort. The Guide for the Perplexed is degenerate with Maimonides claiming the strongest reason for Circumcision is limiting the eros between man and wife such that they would be separable..
Also where is Finnegan's Wake, lmao? Readability doesn't have to be a factor! (Just kidding, I've made it through that one and am using major aspects of it in my current horror novel, but I don't expect anyone to try to get through that thing - although it can be rewarding.)
What a privilege to have studied under Eva Brann, and huge respect for seeing the entire St. John’s program through to the end on your own. That’s some true intellectual discipline.
You make a great point about Plotinus—certain thinkers definitely require a dedicated warmup before you step onto the mat with them.
Your critiques of Aquinas and Maimonides are spicy, but that’s the beauty of wrestling with these books: they aren't meant to be treated as infallible dogma, but as formidable sparring partners that force us to sharpen our own convictions.
Best of luck with the horror novel! Sneaking Finnegans Wake into genre fiction sounds brilliant.
A huge privilege. On campus she was affectionately referred to by students as “grandmother.” A very sweet woman and intelligent scholar. A unique person of such edifying presence that I’m sure everyone who has spoken to her have come away a better person.
I had her for Seminar where we were studying Plato. I highly recommend her books, especially her book on Heraclitus and What Constitutes a World. I remain her student through the written word and plan to eventually read all her books.
Some part of me hopes that some day I will be able to afford to return to St. John’s for their graduate program. When I left they held the door open to me and said I could return any time and the only thing preventing me is life circumstances.
Excellent list! Love it. Just for the fun of a little debate, here are my three quibbles. 1) Why does Don Quiote keep finding it's way into lists like these? I'm almost certain that the "greatest novel of all time" quotes are a joke. It's something the protagonist would say, so it's funny. I don't know, maybe a literary inside joke on lists like these is worth it. 2) Spinoza's Ethics. I'm convinced this book is only famous for two reasons. First, that he organizes it like Euclid which people think is clever, and he was a religious maverick which admittedly took a lot of courage. But the book itself is a dud. 3) I think the Communist Manifesto (and maybe Capital Vol 1 though it is so long) is r glaring omission on the list. His mpact on modern times is indisputable whether we agree with him or not.
If I ever post a list of my own, I how you will quibble back!
Thanks—these are excellent quibbles, and exactly the sort of debate a list like this ought to provoke.
On Don Quixote: I take your point. It may be the most canonized book in the canon, but I included it for its enormous influence on the shape of the modern novel, not simply because generations of lists tell us to.
On Spinoza, I’m more sympathetic to your skepticism. The geometric form is certainly intimidating, and perhaps part of its fame is the audacity of the project. But I think the underlying questions—freedom, emotion, God, necessity, and how one might live rationally—remain consequential even for readers who find the system unpersuasive.
Marx is probably the strongest omission you identify. Agreement is not the standard here; historical consequence is. On that measure, The Communist Manifesto has a very serious claim to inclusion. I need to reconsider for my next iteration.
Don Quixote is one of my favorite novels. And it has always been incredibly popular worldwide and especially in spanish speaking countries. It wasn't long after publication that peasants would play act scenes from it which they loved. It is a novel of endless returnable depth. It is also one of the primary rememberances in the west of the Holy Fool.
It adds another dimension to the idea of books as training partners: sometimes a foolish character can sharpen our judgment precisely because we can neither simply admire nor dismiss him.
Perhaps the challenge is to preserve the aspiration toward noble things without losing sight of reality.
What scene would you point readers toward to see that tension most clearly?
The tension, I believe, increases with every encounter in the book. The trials the incredulous put onto Quixote just grow more and more extreme as they wish to use him for entertainment mostly, but then are shocked with the wisdom he delivers in response.
I’ll quote the entire tiny section on Quixote from my book (which I’ll admit is a bit hard to follow without the non-Quixote sections preceding it);
“The Holy Fools are those who glorify God in their lives while
seeming to be mad to the world. They reveal the hypocrisy of the world by
their mere existence in the world. Cervantes's Don Quixote character
similarly appears as a madman in his imitation of the ideals of the
chivalric romances he has come to personify. While gracing the people he
encounters with wisdom, they return this gift for the greatest humiliations
they can devise - mocking him for his supposed madness. Yet they can
only reveal the honour of this knight. When meeting his end, Don Quixote
shows his utmost honour in recognizing the treacherous Sancho (n the disenchantment of Dulcinea, where Sancho whips a tree for material gain rather than taking the whip to himself) still as his
loyal squire. Sancho’s final betrayal is consonant with the world’s betrayal
- having grown mature under the influence of the teacher, the teachings
become only a means to material gain without care for honourable virtues.
Sancho, like the world rejects loyalty for hypocrisy, and becomes the
servant of the self which sees the other as a means-to-the-end of the self.”
As a bookbinder and a reader, I find the idea of an unread library especially beautiful. A shelf of waiting books is not evidence of what we have failed to finish, but of the conversations still available to us. I would rather approach these 300 as lifelong companions than as a checklist to conquer..
I can tell a lot of work went into the construction of this list. And as with all other such lists, it’s completely anglo or euro male dominated. Not a list for those of us interested in mankind’s great books. Although of course many of the books included here would make it into a list of Mankind’s Great Books. The problem here is what was left out.
Guilty as charged.
It’s admirable to want to create a Mankind’s great books list but I’m not qualified to do that. I’m unable to deeply understand the Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Muslim cultures, for example, to begin to do this justice. I think few people are.
I’ve found in my extensive international travels, the best way to be cosmopolitan (a Greek word) is to have a deep understanding and appreciation of my own tradition, as I respect other cultures. Only by going deep into the Western Tradition can I truly appreciate its excellences and faults.
So, I can respect the non-duality tradition of Asian cultures while proudly saying I’m a product of the “Greek miracle.” Rationality, philosophy, and science were invented by the Ionian Greeks of Anatolia in 6th century BC. I discovered this by reading the pre-Socratic philosophers.
Yes, the list is male-heavy. But we can’t forget that the Western Tradition has many strong female role models.
I tell my daughters that the emblem of my alma mater West Point is not a Spartan helmet but the one that Athena wore. She was not only the goddess of war but also wisdom. A better role model than the wild, bezerker male god Ares. I wrote a recent newsletter piece where I explain that Athena was the first mentor. The fans of the recent Odyssey movie are seeing the divine mentor in action.
And Greek tragedy is full of formidable women who seize agency, speak truth to power, and drive the action—often at great personal cost. I’ve been inspired by heroines like Elektra, Medea and Antigone. Only by reading the great works of the playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides can you discover their great lessons.
Fair point. And still the western selection in this list left out a lot of great “Western” stuff that just so happens to have been written by Western women, western minorities and “non-Christian” Western writers
My goodness, you're intolerable. Shut up.
🤣 🤣🤣
the list is titled “the 300 best books from the Western Tradition.”
So? Latin America is Western, women are Western, immigrants to the West are Western, Blacks are Western…the list goes on…as always.
It’s a superb list. Bravo!
Thanks. I'm glad its of value.
I went to St. John's for a Semester and studied under Eva Bran . I had to leave for health reasons which impacted my ability to perform. I have completed their reading list since then. Of this list I'd say some need prerequisite reading, like Plotinus. Others like the Summa Theologica I think are not worth the effort. The Guide for the Perplexed is degenerate with Maimonides claiming the strongest reason for Circumcision is limiting the eros between man and wife such that they would be separable..
Also where is Finnegan's Wake, lmao? Readability doesn't have to be a factor! (Just kidding, I've made it through that one and am using major aspects of it in my current horror novel, but I don't expect anyone to try to get through that thing - although it can be rewarding.)
What a privilege to have studied under Eva Brann, and huge respect for seeing the entire St. John’s program through to the end on your own. That’s some true intellectual discipline.
You make a great point about Plotinus—certain thinkers definitely require a dedicated warmup before you step onto the mat with them.
Your critiques of Aquinas and Maimonides are spicy, but that’s the beauty of wrestling with these books: they aren't meant to be treated as infallible dogma, but as formidable sparring partners that force us to sharpen our own convictions.
Best of luck with the horror novel! Sneaking Finnegans Wake into genre fiction sounds brilliant.
A huge privilege. On campus she was affectionately referred to by students as “grandmother.” A very sweet woman and intelligent scholar. A unique person of such edifying presence that I’m sure everyone who has spoken to her have come away a better person.
I had her for Seminar where we were studying Plato. I highly recommend her books, especially her book on Heraclitus and What Constitutes a World. I remain her student through the written word and plan to eventually read all her books.
Some part of me hopes that some day I will be able to afford to return to St. John’s for their graduate program. When I left they held the door open to me and said I could return any time and the only thing preventing me is life circumstances.
Excellent list! Love it. Just for the fun of a little debate, here are my three quibbles. 1) Why does Don Quiote keep finding it's way into lists like these? I'm almost certain that the "greatest novel of all time" quotes are a joke. It's something the protagonist would say, so it's funny. I don't know, maybe a literary inside joke on lists like these is worth it. 2) Spinoza's Ethics. I'm convinced this book is only famous for two reasons. First, that he organizes it like Euclid which people think is clever, and he was a religious maverick which admittedly took a lot of courage. But the book itself is a dud. 3) I think the Communist Manifesto (and maybe Capital Vol 1 though it is so long) is r glaring omission on the list. His mpact on modern times is indisputable whether we agree with him or not.
If I ever post a list of my own, I how you will quibble back!
Thanks—these are excellent quibbles, and exactly the sort of debate a list like this ought to provoke.
On Don Quixote: I take your point. It may be the most canonized book in the canon, but I included it for its enormous influence on the shape of the modern novel, not simply because generations of lists tell us to.
On Spinoza, I’m more sympathetic to your skepticism. The geometric form is certainly intimidating, and perhaps part of its fame is the audacity of the project. But I think the underlying questions—freedom, emotion, God, necessity, and how one might live rationally—remain consequential even for readers who find the system unpersuasive.
Marx is probably the strongest omission you identify. Agreement is not the standard here; historical consequence is. On that measure, The Communist Manifesto has a very serious claim to inclusion. I need to reconsider for my next iteration.
Don Quixote is one of my favorite novels. And it has always been incredibly popular worldwide and especially in spanish speaking countries. It wasn't long after publication that peasants would play act scenes from it which they loved. It is a novel of endless returnable depth. It is also one of the primary rememberances in the west of the Holy Fool.
Thank you for bringing the Holy Fool into this.
It adds another dimension to the idea of books as training partners: sometimes a foolish character can sharpen our judgment precisely because we can neither simply admire nor dismiss him.
Perhaps the challenge is to preserve the aspiration toward noble things without losing sight of reality.
What scene would you point readers toward to see that tension most clearly?
The tension, I believe, increases with every encounter in the book. The trials the incredulous put onto Quixote just grow more and more extreme as they wish to use him for entertainment mostly, but then are shocked with the wisdom he delivers in response.
I’ll quote the entire tiny section on Quixote from my book (which I’ll admit is a bit hard to follow without the non-Quixote sections preceding it);
“The Holy Fools are those who glorify God in their lives while
seeming to be mad to the world. They reveal the hypocrisy of the world by
their mere existence in the world. Cervantes's Don Quixote character
similarly appears as a madman in his imitation of the ideals of the
chivalric romances he has come to personify. While gracing the people he
encounters with wisdom, they return this gift for the greatest humiliations
they can devise - mocking him for his supposed madness. Yet they can
only reveal the honour of this knight. When meeting his end, Don Quixote
shows his utmost honour in recognizing the treacherous Sancho (n the disenchantment of Dulcinea, where Sancho whips a tree for material gain rather than taking the whip to himself) still as his
loyal squire. Sancho’s final betrayal is consonant with the world’s betrayal
- having grown mature under the influence of the teacher, the teachings
become only a means to material gain without care for honourable virtues.
Sancho, like the world rejects loyalty for hypocrisy, and becomes the
servant of the self which sees the other as a means-to-the-end of the self.”
As a bookbinder and a reader, I find the idea of an unread library especially beautiful. A shelf of waiting books is not evidence of what we have failed to finish, but of the conversations still available to us. I would rather approach these 300 as lifelong companions than as a checklist to conquer..
I love that framing: lifelong companions, not trophies.
The best books repay return visits at different stages of life.
The aim is not to conquer a list, but to keep worthy conversations within reach for a lifetime.
A good library should inspire humility as much as ambition—there is always more to learn, and another great conversation waiting.
Superb essay. Thank you.
Thank you!
I hope it continues to be of value in your reading journey.
Thank you for sharing. I am currently working my way through the western canon.
That's great!
Think of it as a daily workout - where you are 'wrestling with wisdom'