The “Great Books”: How Many, Which Ones, and Are They Always Useful?

[riky]

The "Great Books": How Many, Which Ones, and Are They Always Useful?
      

How useful is it for students to read original sources versus secondary sources?

Sure, the idea of reading the original and only the original has an appeal.

But teachers must balance that benefit against the likely cost — that students will tune out. It seems wiser to start from the student's present mental location, and tempt him down a path of thought that most likely leads to understanding the great ideas, which will in turn lead to a desire to read the great books themselves.

         

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