How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren
今日は『本を読む本』を見ていきましょう。このテキストは、J.モーティマー・アドラーの "How to Read a Book "からヒントを得た原則と読書法について述べています。自分の知識や思考を広げるために、良い本を積極的かつ知的に読むことの重要性を強調しています。著者は、読書へのアプローチとして、初級、コントロール、分析、シントピックリーディングの4段階を提案しています。また、本文では、言及されたテクニックが様々な情報源に応用できることを示唆し、積極的に疑問を持ち、考えることの必要性を強調しています。読書を通じて心の動きに対する感受性を養うことは、個人が感情をコントロールし、理性を高めることにつながります。(English) Let's take a look at "Books to read" today. This text discusses principles and reading methods inspired by J. Mortimer Adler's "How to Read a Book." It emphasizes the importance of reading good books actively and intellectually to expand one's knowledge and thinking. The author proposes a four-level approach to reading: beginning, control, analytical, and syntopic reading. The text also suggests that the techniques mentioned can be applied to various information sources, emphasizing the need to be proactive in questioning and thinking. Cultivating sensitivity to mental movements through reading can help individuals control emotions and reason.
[About the principles and methods of reading that I thought about after reading "Books to Read Books".
Table of Contents
Introduction
What kind of book is a summary of ′′a book to read a book ′′?
What are good books?
What does intellectual mean?
What does it mean to be active in reading?
How should I approach reading intellectually and actively?
Level 1: Beginning to read
Level 2: Control reading
Level 3: Analytical reading
Level 4: Syntopic reading
Note: Few books are worth reading
Summary
A book to read by J. Mortimer Adler (author), V. Charles Doren
A)
1)
Introduction
The book I want to introduce to you this time is "A Book to Read".
This is how to Read a Book.
The first edition was published in the United States in 1940.
It is a book that has been appreciated worldwide and is still read today.
B)
2)
What kind of book is "A Book to Read" short for?
It is a book that describes the rules for reading worthy good books intellectually and actively.
Well, I think some things can be difficult because the range of understanding is wide.
I want to deepen my understanding by asking the following questions.
What is a good book?
What is intellectual?
What is active reading?
C)
3)
What are good books?
A good book is a book that is worth thinking about.
Conversely, a book not worth considering can be called a lousy book.
In other words, it is a book that broadens and enriches the reader's mind.
Conversely, a book that does not broaden and enrich the reader's mind is not good.
In this book, books only for entertainment or information are considered flawed.
D)
4)
By the way, what does it mean to expand your mind?
It may seem long, but think about points, lines, planes and solids.
Solids cannot exist without faces, lines and points.
A plane cannot exist without lines and points.
A line cannot exist without points.
Let's rephrase the point as a piece of knowledge, the line as a thought, the plane as a way of thinking, and the solid as a person's character (philosophy or belief, in other words, a person's whole way of thinking).
A person's way of thinking is considered a synthesis of different ways of thinking about other problems of that person.
E)
Therefore, it can be said that all one's thoughts are made up of a collection of mindsets (a group of aspects).
Next, let's think about an aspect.
In other words, an aspect is one way of thinking.
An aspect can be said to be a way of thinking, an idea or knowledge.
F)
6)
And if we can think that a way of thinking is made up of levels, then we can say that stories are made up of a collection of ways of thinking.
G)
7)
Next, knowledge can be thought of as points. These thoughts are considered to be made up of collections of knowledge. Knowledge alone is just floating in the air. If you don't believe so, which is the act of connecting knowledge to knowledge, you can't create a single way of thinking.
So, I believe that you cannot think without knowledge and cannot think with knowledge alone.
8)
To summarise what has been said so far, it can be said that it is not only possible to increase knowledge but also to expand the area with thinking. I think you can imagine that the volume of philosophy and thought) will increase. (The flow of the story is from large to small)
9)
So, by increasing different knowledge and different thoughts, your mind will grow.
And what does it mean to expand your mind? Let's go back to the question.
You can understand that enlarging and broadening your thinking has the same meaning as enlarging and enriching your mind.
10)
Therefore, I believe that to have different knowledge and thoughts and expand one's way of thinking is to develop and enrich one's mind.
Finally, what is a good book? Let's answer this question.
From this point of view, a good book can be said to be a book that expands one's way of thinking, providing both knowledge and thought.
In this sense, a book that only lists knowledge is not good, and a book that does not allow you to see the way of thinking is not good either.
I)
11)
What does intellectual mean?
In general, intelligence means having intelligence but being intelligent here means systematically collecting knowledge and continuing to read.
Understanding the direction of the parts from the whole, putting the pieces together into the whole, and systematically putting together knowledge.
It can also be called comparing.
We are finding connections and similarities by comparing.
12)
For example,
- Summarise the author's claims in each chapter and find common claims for the book.
- Summarise the assertions of each section and find out what the whole chapter has in the joint.
13)
Conversely,
- After finding a common assertion (book title) for the whole book, know the direction of the part (each chapter).
- Exploring the focus of each section from the idea of the entire chapter (chapter title).
In other words, reading intellectually means reading while systematically comparing and putting things together.
J)
14)
What does it mean to be active in reading? A positive attitude is the attitude of purposeful reading.
And what exactly is purposeful reading?
It is a method of reading while asking questions.
For the first time, by asking questions, you can absorb information and become material to deepen your thinking.
Why specifically? Why? If you read while asking questions, it will be good reading.
15)
Asking questions is also a sign that you are aware of the problem.
Conversely, if you read with an awareness of the problem, it will effectively deepen your thinking.
It's essential not just to read but to read to gain something.
Let's summarise the above. Think again of a book that lays out the rules for reading worthy good books intelligently and actively. Then systematically analyse and understand the books that expand your knowledge and thinking. In other words, how do you question the book's claims and your way of thinking, and how do you improve your reading? It can be said that it is a book written about.
K)
16)
How should I approach reading intellectually and actively?
To read actively and intellectually, you must climb the following levels. There are four levels.
Level 1: Beginning reader
Level 2: Check reading
Level 3: Analytical reading
Level 4: Syntopic reading
17)
As Level 1 builds on Level 2, Level 3 includes all the previous levels. Level 4 has all the steps from levels 1 to 3. Each part has similar methods and stories, so the way of understanding is another.
For details, please read the book, and let's explain it roughly step by step.
L)
18)
Level 1: Beginner Reading
A level where you can easily understand the meaning of words and sentences.
Level 2: Intermediate reading
A story where you can roughly understand what is written in the book.
Level 3: Analytical reading
A story where you can understand the author's logic in a book.
Level 4: Syntopic reading
A level at which you can compare and organise the logic of each author's claims in several books dealing with the same subject (purpose or theme) and be able to make your claims.
19)
For the above levels, you cannot progress to the upper level until you have completed the lower level, so no matter how quickly you want to get to level 4, you have to start at level 1.
This is because a book comprises chapters, verses, sentences and words, so if you don't know the comments, you won't understand the sentences. Likewise, you don't see the passage if you don't see the phrase. Similarly, you won't see the book's contents if you don't know the chapters and verses. Again, this is because there is a relationship between content and appearance (content and form).
M)
20)
Note: Few books are worth reading
So far, I have talked about reading good books intellectually and actively.
Finally, I want to say that, surprisingly, few books are worth reading. Most of them are books specialising in knowledge and entertainment, such as technical books.
Most of it is ad hoc knowledge and doesn't give you an idea that can be applied to many things. So, in a sense, it can be said that it is just consuming knowledge.
However, if you go through the 1-4 reading method I mentioned earlier, even if it is just a book for knowledge or entertainment, it will undoubtedly give you awareness.
21)
However, life is not so long that you can read all the time.
If you read "Books for Reading Books", you'll understand this, but realistically, it's challenging to do the reading method described in the book every time.
Therefore, assuming that very few books should be read thoroughly, the necessary skill is to know whether the book you are about to read is a book that should be read thoroughly.
The technique is described in the section on Check Reading.
A brief explanation of the method is as follows:
- Title
-Table of Contents
- Postscript
- Binding
- Summary
- Browse and read other essential items.
22)
By doing this, you will know what kind of book you will read and decide whether it is necessary.
Just by being aware of this way of reading, there is no doubt that the efficiency of gathering information will be higher than ever. But, of course, isn't it rare to think about these things consciously?
And if we do, we are less likely to feel it:
It was meaningless information after research.
It was a waste of time after impulsive reading and watching.
N)
23)
Summary
This book of reading is about books. However, the techniques described in this book should also apply to other information media.
For example, they are effective for information that can be seen or heard, such as magazines, newspapers, television, radio, advertisements, newspapers, Internet news, videos, pictures, conversations and presentations.
We obtain information through sight for magazines, newspapers, articles, advertisements, television, images, videos, presentations, etc. (Television and video are visual and auditory.)
You can predict what will be said later by examining the critical headlines in such cases. And you can make an efficient decision to watch if you are interested and not to watch if you are not interested.
24)
As for radio, it is the information you get from your hearing.
Even in these cases, there is something of a substitute for the headline before the critical story.
For example, I think the radio station's name and the content, such as "I'll be talking about xx from now on!". Then you can decide whether you want to continue listening or not.
25)
It can also be applied to conversations with people.
If you listen carefully to their keywords and summarise them, you can predict and classify what they will say.
In conversations with people, it is impolite to judge whether to listen, but at the earlier stage, when you decide whether to meet someone, by asking the person what kind of person you will meet. You can find out what kind of person you are by looking it up online.
You might not think rationalising everything is a good idea, but it's a very effective way of doing it if you have a purpose.
Because, in many cases, there is a time limit for achieving the goals.
That's why I think it's so important to be efficient.
26)
And mentally, having a positive attitude is the art of getting better at every moment. This is because if you are proactive, you can feel doubt and interest, ask questions, and accumulate knowledge and thoughts.
If you have a passive attitude, you will not feel doubt, interest or even ask questions.
Then you will not be able to accumulate knowledge and thoughts.
27)
On the other hand, the following is my impression from a different point of view, but it is essential to cultivate the sense of using the body, such as exercising. Still, it is also necessary to enable the importance of using the mind, such as reading and studying.
Everyone quickly grasps the body's physical sensations, which can be felt without conscious awareness. Still, mental feelings cannot be felt unless one consciously tries to catch them. And by getting a feel for the mind, you can control your physical senses.
28)
Everyone should begin with physical sensations.
However, at some stage in life, it is necessary to change our consciousness so that we can see things from a mental sense.
You must control your emotions, think rationally and logically, and act to do well in life.
29)
It is impossible to think rationally and logically if you cannot control your emotions.
This is where people sensitive to the movement of the mind can notice things like "Oh, I'm not calm right now" or "I'm pissed off right now". Then you can sort out the situation and deal with it.
But people who are not sensitive will get out of control with emotions like "I'm sick" and "I don't understand"; they won't be able to think straight and will keep repeating the same thing repeatedly.
O)
30)
I think it is clear that there is a big difference in progress between those who repeat the same things and those who do not. (I don't think it's okay to make the same mistakes repeatedly, but I think you have to be aware that you're making the same mistakes over and over again).
In this sense, I think it is necessary to pay attention to the mind's movement consciously.
Finally, I believe that I can become more sensitive to my mental movements through reading and conscious communication with people and things.
One way of doing this is through reading.
[About the principles and methods of reading that I thought about after reading "Books to Read Books".
https://narumi-yamauchi.hatenablog.com/entry/honnwoyomuhon
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//ChatGPT Ver.4.0//
You are a librarian, and you know all the books. I will ask you some questions, and you will be asked to give your book recommendations and answer the questions in a spreadsheet using only a tiny part of the questions.
Example table: Recommended book titles, essences and quotations
Question:
I am interested in liberal arts. Please tell me a good book to read first.
Recommended book titles Essences Quotations
"The Liberal Arts Tradition: A Philosophy of Christian Classical Education" by Kevin Clark & Ravi Jain | This book outlines the history and philosophy of liberal arts education in the context of classical Christian Education. | "Education is not primarily about the acquisition of information. Instead, it is about the formation of habits."
"How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading" by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren | A timeless guide on how to read books critically and effectively, useful for students of liberal arts. | "In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you."
"The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric" by Sister Miriam Joseph | This book introduces the three foundational liberal arts disciplines: logic, grammar, and rhetoric. | "The liberally educated person can resist the easy and preferred answers, not because he is obstinate but because he knows others worthy of consideration."
"The Great Conversation: The Substance of a Liberal Education" by Robert M. Hutchins | The author argues the importance of studying the great works of Western civilisation for a proper liberal arts education. | "The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives."
"An Introduction to the Humanities: A Reader in the Liberal Arts" edited by Charles F. G. Masterman | A comprehensive collection of writings from renowned thinkers, providing a solid introduction to liberal arts topics. | "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." (Quote by Aristotle, included in the reader)