Mortimer Adler American philosopher, teacher and popularizer. Date of Birth: 28.12.1902 Country: USA

1. Mortimer Adler: An American Philosopher and Educator
2. Early Life and Education
3. Academic Career
4. Notable Works
5. Later Years and Legacy
6. Death

Mortimer Adler: An American Philosopher and Educator

Mortimer Adler was an American philosopher, educator, and popularizer. He authored several dozen books, served as an editor for several book series and university educational projects.

Early Life and Education

Mortimer Adler was born on December 28, 1902, in New York City. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school and began working as a secretary for the editor of The New York Times. Two years later, after reading several dialogues by Plato, he decided to become a philosopher. He went on to study at Columbia University, where he earned his doctoral degree in 1928 by defending a dissertation on musical perception.

Academic Career

Adler lectured at City College and Columbia University, and in 1930, he received an invitation to work at the University of Chicago, where he became a professor in 1942. At the University of Chicago, he and R.M. Hutchins worked on reorganizing the educational curriculum to broaden students' knowledge in the humanities. In 1946, Adler proposed the idea for the series "Great Books of the Western World," which consisted of 443 great works in 54 volumes and was published in 1952.

Notable Works

In the 1930s, Adler released several books on philosophy and psychology, including the well-known "How to Read a Book: The Art of Getting a Liberal Education" (1940; second edition 1972). He also authored a renowned two-volume index called "Syntopicon," which included 102 "great ideas." Additionally, Adler founded the Institute for Philosophical Research in San Francisco in 1952, later relocating it to Chicago in 1963.

Later Years and Legacy

In 1974, Adler became the chairman of the editorial board for the Encyclopedia Britannica and, together with Hutchins, oversaw a complete revision of its content starting from the 15th edition (1974). He remained at the helm of Britannica until 1995. From 1988 to 1991, Adler served as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1990, he co-founded the Center for the Study of Great Ideas in Chicago with Max Weismann.

Death

Mortimer Adler passed away on June 29, 2001, in San Mateo, California.