Explore the Great Books of the Western World: an Interactive Syntopicon

Explore the Great Books of the Western World

Trace an idea across 2,500 years of Western thought.

A free interactive tool built on Adler and Van Doren’s Syntopicon, with links to every book cited.

0 ideas·0+ thoughts
Explore

The Ideas

Justice

What do we owe each other, and how should society be ordered?

11 thinkers · 11 works

Liberty

What does it mean to be free, and what are the conditions of genuine freedom?

13 thinkers · 13 works

Truth

What is truth, and how do we recognize it?

9 thinkers · 9 works

Browse

The 102 Great Ideas

From Angel to World, every idea Adler found running through the Western tradition, grouped by domain.

Explore ideas →

Begin

Reading Plans

Curated paths through the Great Books, with notes on why each work belongs where it does.

Start reading →

Reference

The Great Books

Homer to Freud, every work cited in the Syntopicon, with links back to the ideas each book helped shape.

Explore books →