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Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren

How to Read a Book 


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Book Notes by Alexei Chadyuk (November 2003)

 

This book tells how to read a book so that you can understand and remember both the idea and the structure of the argument, as if they were your own. 

 

Reading to better understanding of our world.

 

Active reading

 

Book dedicated to reading for understanding. [p3]

-          Today we get too much information to the detriment of our understanding of the world.

-          Media package positions and opinions, so we don’t have an opportunity to make up our minds for ourselves.

-          The more active reading is the better. [p5]

-          Demand more of yourself and the text

-          Reader is like a catcher in baseball

-          Catching a ball is as much an activity as pitching

-          Book is like a ball – passive object common to two activities – beginning (writing) and termination (reading)

-          Pitcher and catcher need to cooperate

-          The more active you are – the more you catch

 

Reading for Enlightenment

 

The art of reading is the process whereby a mind with nothing to operate upon but the printed matter, elevates itself from understanding less to understanding more. [p8]

 

Reading has two senses:

-          reading for information – content is intelligible at once – cannot increase our understanding;

-          reading for understanding – reader does not completely understand the content at the beginning.  Requirements:

o         initial difference is understanding between reader and writer;

o         reader must be able to overcome inequality, to some degree.

 

(This book is not much concerned with reading for entertainment.)

 

The difference between being:

Informed and

Is the difference in ability to:

Remember it and

Enlightened

Explain it

 

Enlightenment is achieved only when, in addition to what the author says, you know what he means by that and why he says that.

 

Aided Discovery

 

Teacher and student are like doctor and patient.  Whatever doctor does, it is the patient himself should grow in health.  Teacher may help – but the student should do the learning.

 

Unaided” discovery

Aided” discovery

Learning by discovery

Learning from teachers

Reading the nature

Reading books / Listening to teacher – both are “arts of being taught.” [p13]

Requires thinking

Thought not to require thinking but it does!

 

Book is an absent teacher: Ask book a question – you must answer it yourself:

-          To know how to make a book a better teacher – the main purpose of How to Read the Book.

 

4 Levels of Reading

 

(1)     Elementary.  Question: “What this sentence says?”

(2)     Inspectional.  Limited time. Systematic skimming. Q: “What is the book about?”

(3)     Analytical. “Chewing and digesting.”  Reading for the sake of understanding.

(4)     Syntopical. Comparative reading. Constructing the analysis that is not present in any book.

 

Level 2. Inspectional Reading

 

( I )  Systematic skimming / pre-reading

·          You do not know whether a book deserves an analytical reading

·          Limited time

·          Can find something out even if you don’t want to read afterwards

 

Act as a detective looking for the clues:

(1)     Title page / preface – subtitles

·          Pigeonhole the book

(2)     Table of contents

(3)     Index

·          Look up passages with key terms

(4)     Publisher’s blurb

·          If it doesn’t say anything, the book may not say anything either

(5)     Chapters pivotal to the argument

·          Summary statements

(6)     Turn the pages

·          Read a paragraph / a page or two

·          Last few pages contain a summary of the book

( II )  Superficial reading

·          When tacking a difficult book, read it through without stopping to comprehend the difficult parts.

 

o         Need to read with varying speeds depending on the material

 

Relationship between:

Inspectional and

Systematic skimming prepares for:

Superficial reading prepares for:

Analytical reading

Stage I. Structural

Stage II. Interpretive

 

Being a demanding reader: ask questions, mark a book, write down thoughts.

 

Questions to ask a book:

 

-          What is it about as a whole?

-          What does it say in detail?

-          Is it true?

-          What of it?

 

A habit of asking these questions is a mark of a demanding reader.  Ability to answer them precisely and accurately is the art of reading.  [p48]

 

Marking a book

 

-          Keeps you awake

-          Reading is thinking.  Thinking is expressed in words.

-          Writing down your reactions helps to remember thoughts of author

 

Things to mark in a book

 

-          Major points, forceful statements, with a separate coding for a dozen key points (need to develop this!)

-          End papers for summaries,

-          Front papers for outline of the book

 

Types of note making:

 

-          Structural               – when you complete inspectional reading

-          Conceptual           – analytical reading

-          Dialectical             – syntopical reading – shape of discussion.

 

Level 3.  Analytical Reading

 

Stages of analytical reading             

 

Rules of analytical reading

                                 

Stage I.  Structural.  Q: What is it about?

 

(1)     Know what the book is about early in the process.  (Pigeonholing)  [p60]

(2)     State in one sentence the theme of the book.  (Unity)  [p75]

(3)     Outlining the parts making up the whole.  (Multiplicity)  [p84]

(4)     What were the author’s problems?  What questions did he attempt to answer by writing the book?  [p92]

 

Stage II.  Interpretive.  Q: What does it say in detail?

 

(5)     Find the important words and through them come to terms with the author.  [p98]

(6)     Mark important sentences and discover the propositions they contain. [p120]  The test of the success of the analytical reading is the ability to state the proposition in your own words, or give an example.  [p125]

(7)     Locate and construct the basic arguments in the book by finding them in the connection of the sentences. [p120]

(8)     What are the solutions to the problems defined in (4)?  [p135]

 

Stage III.  Critical.  Q:  Is it true?

 

(9)     Do not agree, disagree or suspend judgement on the book until you understand it.  [p142]

(10) Disagree reasonably, not contentiously  [p145]

 

Argument is empty unless, when you start it, you expect that reason and relevant evidence can resolve the original issue.

 

(11) Respect the difference between knowledge and mere personal opinion, by giving reasons for any critical judgement you make.  [p150]

 

Judgement

 

Example of difference disagreement and misunderstanding:

“all men are equal”—agreement on the terms does not imply agreement on the ideas.

 

Rules of Controversy  [p154-6]

 

(1)     Acknowledge emotions involved

(2)     Make assumptions explicit—good controversy is not a quarrel about assumptions

(3)     Try to take the point of view of the other.

 

Types of Criticism

 

(1)     You are uninformed

(2)     You are misinformed

(3)     You are illogical

(4)     Your analysis is incomplete

 

Stage IV.  Ultimate search of Significance.  Q: What of it?

 

Extrinsic aids to reading

 

(1)     Relevant experience

a.       Common experience—available to most people

b.       Special experience—available in e.g. lab setting

 

(2)     Other books

a.       Extend the context

b.       Timeline should sometimes be observed

 

(3)     Commentaries and abstracts—to be used sparingly because they may not be (i) right or (ii) exhaustive.

a.       Commentaries are to be read after the book

b.       Abstracts can be used only for:

                                                               i.      Reminding of the contents

                                                              ii.      Helping in your decision to study the text in more detail

 

(4)     Reference books.  Need to know 4 things:

a.       What do you want to find?

b.       In what reference book to find it?

c.        How to find it?

d.       Content in reference books is limited to what is knowable.

 

Approaches to different kinds of books

 

Practical books

Cover areas where people act better or worse.  Split into:

 

(1)     Rule books

(2)     Underlying principle books: when reading, need to derive rules from principles, to be effective.

 

Main judgement of a practical book is based on:

(1)     Goals it suggests to achieve.

(2)     Means suggested are secondary.

 

-          You should always answer both questions to understand a practical book

-          Because you judge a book by aims it wants you to achieve, success of the book depends on how well the author makes you move in that direction.

-          Hence he will use both logical and emotional methods of persuasion.

-          When emotions are involved, it is good to know the circumstances in which the book was written.

 

Rules for reading a practical book

 

(1)     What is it about?

(2)     What the author wants you to do? (Rule 4)

And how he proposes to do it? (Rule 8)

(3)     Are the goals and means right?

(4)     Action

 

Imaginative Literature influences our imagination by trying to convey experience, while expository work calls for our intelligence trying to convey knowledge.

 

-          To maximise the effect literature has on us – try not resist it

-          Literature is an escape from reality into the deeper reality of inner self

-          Literature tries to be as ambiguous as possible by trying to convey several (albeit connected) meanings, whereas expository works try to be as precise in the meaning as possible

-          Do not look for terms, propositions and arguments

-          You can learn from imaginative literature through experiences created by your imagination

-          Don’t criticise by truth and consistency; if the experience is probable, if it is likely – the fiction truthful

 

Rules for reading imaginative literature

 

(I)                               Structural

(1)     Classify the type of fiction read

(2)     Unity of the story, plot

(3)     Parts that construct the work

 

(II)                             Interpretive

(1)     Elements: characters, actions, episodes, feelings

(2)     Elements exist in the imaginative “world” that you have to enter

(3)     How the plot unravels / Follow through adventure

 

(III)                            Critical

(1)     Do not criticise until you have appreciated the experience

(2)     We don’t agree or disagree with fiction; we either like it or not

(3)     Go from stating with you like and dislike in the work and why, to saying what is good and bad about the book itself. 

 

Beauty is the only reason for its being.

 

Practical recommendations [p215]

 

-          Read the story quickly to grasp both the plot and the detail

-          Fiction is a human necessity because it fulfils both conscious and unconscious needs.

 

Plays [p223]

 

-          Plays are only complete on stage, not in writing.  So it is important to imagine yourself as a director advising actors on how they should say a particular phrase

-          Read out loud the difficult parts

 

Greek tragedies [p226]

 

-          Time constraints leading to tragic decisions

-          Actors-heroes wearing buskins elevating them several inches above the chorus

 

Poems [p227]

 

-          Read through without stopping, then read again loud

-          Every poem has some kind of a conflict

 

History [p234]

 

-          History is a soft science because it is never possible to know what exactly happened and why

-          Read more than one account of the event

-          Read history to learn the Way

 

Questions:

 

-          Boundaries of the account / which aspect seen fundamental (e.g. war, economy, religion, art)

-          Criticism:

(1)     Verisimilitude / likelihood

(2)     Use of sources

-          Key question: What of it? – Practical / political: what happened, how can it be repeated or avoided

 

Current events [p248]

 

-          Who is writing a report (what is his mind-set)?

(1)     What does he want to prove?

(2)     Whom does he want to convince?

(3)     Special assumptions / frames of reference / doctrines (prisms of view)

(4)     Special terms (e.g. communist)

(5)     Is the reporter informed?

 

Caveat Lector – Reader Beware – Author may have an interest in you understanding the material in a certain way.

 

                Science [p255]

 

-          Contemporary scientific works are written by experts for experts because in this way they are quicker to arrive at the frontier and start solving the real problems

-          For laymen, therefore, 2 types of books are of interest:

(1)     Classical scientific works

-          To be read to understand philosophy and history of science / understand scientific enterprise

-          Free the mind through the discipline of wonder

-          Important: state as clearly as you can the problem the author is trying to solve

-          Distinguish assumptions from results achieved through argument

-          Scientific objectivity is not a freedom from bias, it is a clear confession of it

-          Problems:

§          Science is inductive: you need to follow evidence provided by the author to arrive at the proposed generalisations

§          Mathematics

(2)     Popularisations

-          Usually avoid both descriptions of experiments (just provide the result) and the maths

-          Need to follow rules of reading even more vigorously

 

Philosophy [p270] is about asking very simple, even childish questions that do not have an easy answer

 

-          Philosophy is split into two divisions according to the type of question they try to answer

(1)     Theoretical / speculative / metaphysical – What is it?

(2)     Practical / normative / epistemological – What should be?

 

-          These are “first order” questions that philosophers up until 1930 were trying to answer

-          “Second order” questions – about way of thinking or language we use when we try to answer “first order” question – are the concern of modern philosophy, which makes it too scientific to be accessible to laymen

-          Philosophical method: you can answer first order questions only through thorough thinking that is based on common experience.  The mistake some early philosophers made when they applied philosophical method (i.e. thinking) to questions that be answered by scientific research.

-          One can make a reverse mistake

 

-          Five styles of philosophical exposition:

(1)     Dialogue: only proper example: Plato – heuristic (allows the reader to discover things for himself)

(2)     Treatise or essay: Aristotle or Kant – straightforward exposition

(3)     Meeting of objections: St Thomas Aquinas – truth found in conflict

(4)     Systemization: Descartes – Euclid-like style, not very appropriate

(5)     Aphoristic: Laotse, Nietzsche – heuristic, hit-and-run, poetical, not satisfactory for serious philosophy

 

-          Reading philosophy

(1)     Discover key question

(2)     Find underlying principles (which may not be explicit)

(3)     Is the philosopher consistent with them?

 

-          Philosophy explains mature of things, just like science describes it.  Therefore arguments and analysis are crucial

-          Terms are ordinary words used in a different sence

-          Pay attention to principles:

o         Assumptions.  Assume what author asks you to assume – even if you do not agree

o         Self-evident matters.  Drawn from common experience of the mankind

-          When reading a philosophical book, your mind is the only aid

-          Need to read what other philosophers wrote on the subject

-          Disagreement between authors:

o         Shows where the problem is still unsolved or unsolvable

o         Is not important as you have to make up your mind and defend it.

 

Theology [p291]

 

-          Natural: assumes that in the endless causation process, there is an originating cause that itself id not caused.  You can arrive at this assumption by natural reasoning.

-          Dogmatic: first principles = articles of faith

o         Treat dogmas as assumptions (but remember that to the faithful, the are the knowledge, not tentative opinions)

o         See if the arguments and conclusions are cogent with the assumptions, even if you do not agree with the latter

 

Social science [p296]

 

-          On its matters we tend to have strong opinions – this makes the task of reading for understanding difficult

-          Terms of usage are difficult to define / stipulate (e.g. define “mental health”)

-          Because social science is a constantly varying mixture of disciplines defining “what this book is about is as difficult as defining what social science itself is.

-          Further problems: coming to terns and “what of it?” (because of preconceptions and opinions of the reader)

-          Typically there is no single authoritative work on subjects of social sciences => requires syntopical reading

 

Level 4. Syntopical Reading

 

(I)            Define the subject

 

(II)           Preparatory Stage: Define what books should be read in the syntopical reading project:

 

(1)     Construct bibliography of the subject

(2)     Complete inspectional reading of all titles to define:

a.       Relevance

b.       Opportunity for enlightenment

 

(III)          Stages of syntopical reading per se:

 

(1)     Find relevant passages.  Inspectional reading anew

(2)     Bring authors to terms.  Create terminology to which all authors should be normed

(3)     Get the questions clear.  Create a set of neutral propositions: let authors answer your questions in a certain order:

a.       Existence / character of the phenomenon

b.       Its manifestations, and

c.        Consequences

(4)     Define issues.  Order opposing opinions in relation to one another

(5)     Present and analyse the discussion.  Truth is in the ordered discussion itself, not in opposing propositions.

 

NB:  Be resolutely objective and detached throughout.  “Dialectical objectivity”: look at all sides and take no sides.  Quote the authors to aid objectivity.

 

Reading and the Growth of Mind

 

-          You must tackle the books beyond you:

o         Books that allow you to grow once

o         Allowing you to grow more every time you read them

-          These allow you to improve:

o         Reading skills

o         Understanding of the world and self.

 

 

Further reading on the subject Classification of Key Propositions in Expository Literature by Alexei Chadyuk



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How to Read a Book
1972 Paperback Edition 

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1972 Paperback Edition


 

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