Caalim 1

Raven Caalim

Professor Keith Hess

Philosophy 102

11 September 2022

Philosophy Homework #2

Mortimer Adler’s book is about how to read a book quickly while being able to extract

the theme or main ideas of the text and then how to analyze and criticize the book fairly.

Mortimer Adler begins the book by first discussing the goal of reading an academic book, which

is to understand and accumulate information, and some learning is only possible with and

without an instructor. Next, Mortimer Adler establishes the levels of comprehension in different

readings to draw closer to the subject of how to read with a high comprehension. He finally

arrives at his main point of the part, which is how to take notes, flip through pages, and classify

books in a way that gives you the most understanding of the book. Part two of Mortimer Adler’s

book discusses finding the author’s key words that are going to relate to his argument. Next,

Adler wants the reader to use the key words and sentences in order to find the author’s argument.

Going from the argument, the reader should know the author’s message based on the side of the

argument he is on. Finally, Adler tells the reader to use logic to fairly agree or disagree with the

solution to the book’s problem.

The problem Adler is trying to solve is how does one read any sized book or article while

gaining the knowledge the author of such a book or article is trying to convey without reading

the whole book word for word. Then, Adler tries to solve how the reader is supposed to criticize

the work after reading.

 Caalim 2

Key words in Mortimer Adler’s book include “determine”, “meaning”, “understanding”,

“reading”, and “rules”.

Key statements Mortimer Adler has in his book include “Come to terms with the author”,

“What is the book about as a whole?”, and “Criticizing a book”. Mortimer Adler’s main

argument is that by using the rules set out by him throughout the book, a person could read and

effectively comprehend the author’s argument, main ideas, and solution to the given problem and

then criticize the book by pointing out flaws with a calm mind. The solution to Mortimer Adler’s

problem is to pre-read books and use his classification techniques and rules and then criticize the

book, whether that be negative or positive.

I agree in whole with Adler’s solution because when I put his rules and techniques into

practice, I saw results in my comprehension and time. Part one of Adler’s book is teaching how

to understand the meaning and theme of a book in a short amount of time. I used this technique

on a number of books such as Galileo Goes to Jail, in which I was able to present the main point

and outline for the book after reading it for less than 20 minutes. Part two of Adler’s book

focuses on determining the author’s solution and then criticizing the author’s facts and ideas

fairly after. I used this while watching a Joe Rogan podcast where I heard his side and facts to

determine the point he was trying to make towards his audience, and then pointing out the

fallacies in his argument. The execution of Adler’s ideas led me to a higher comprehension in a

shorter amount of time along with a stronger argument against another’s ideas, making me agree

in whole with Adler’s solution.