A few weeks back I was made aware of the fact that a few videos of Mortimer J. Adler exist on the internet. This is news. While dissertating, from 2000-06, none were available online. During that time I knew of his many television appearances, but could only fully explore, due to time restrictions, his appearances on William J. Buckley’s Firing Line programs. Adler was also on television many times with Bill Moyers.
The 57-minute program below is Moyers interviewing Adler. Like Buckley, Moyers was an Adler fan. The topic of discussion in the video is the U.S. Constitution, instigated by the publication of Adler’s 1987 book We Hold These Truths: Understanding the Ideas and Ideals of the Constitution (Macmillan).
I won’t offer a thorough review or contextualization here, but I will say this: the video seems a fine representation of “Late Adler,” as he appeared to many in the 1980s and beyond. – TL
Update (4/6/2008, 11:36 PM, CST): I discovered in early April 2008 that the video link was removed from Googlevideo. To replace the link, I searched YouTube, but the video is not there either. I apologize for any inconvenience. – TL
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Dr. Adler was a brilliant and prolific author, educator, philosopher, and lecturer. He wrote more than 50 books and 200 articles, all of which can be read with pleasure and profit.
His most important book may be “The Time of Our Lives” by Mortimer Adler. In this book he summarizes and adds to Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy about what it means to live a good life, why we should live a good life, and how to live a good life.
For more information on Mortimer Adler and his work, visit The Center for the Study of The Great Ideas
Ken Dzugan
Senior Fellow and Archivist
The Center for the Study of The Great Ideas