Index
Great Ideas
An index of the great ideas that run through the Western tradition, following the list of ideas that organises the Syntopicon of Great Books of the Western World. Each entry gives a short, neutral definition written for this site and points to works and verified quotations already in this library. Links are found by matching each idea's key words and themes against the library, so they are starting points for study, not a complete concordance.
103 ideas. Jump to: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W. Data: /api/great-ideas.json. See also the Great Books in a Year plan and the Virtue index.
A
Angel
A created spiritual being, superior to humans and without a body, which Scripture and many traditions describe as a messenger or servant of God.
2 works · 6 passages
Animal
A living being that senses and moves itself; thinkers ask how animals differ from plants and from human beings.
12 works · 6 passages
Aristocracy
Rule by the best, meaning the few who are most virtuous or able, as opposed to rule by one or by the many.
2 works · 4 passages
Art
Skilled making, from the useful crafts to the fine arts; also the knowledge or rules by which such making is done.
12 works · 6 passages
Astronomy
The study of the heavens: the motions, nature and order of the sun, moon, planets and stars.
8 works · 6 passages
B
C
Cause
That which brings something about or explains why it is as it is; Aristotle distinguished material, formal, efficient and final causes.
12 works · 0 passages
Chance
What happens without design or apparent cause, or outside the usual course of things; also luck or fortune.
9 works · 3 passages
Change
Any passage from one state to another, such as growth, motion, alteration, coming to be and passing away.
12 works · 2 passages
Citizen
A member of a political community who shares in its rights, duties and, in some states, its rule.
12 works · 6 passages
Constitution
The fundamental arrangement of a state: who rules, by what offices and under what laws.
12 works · 6 passages
Courage
The virtue that holds firm in the face of danger, pain or fear for the sake of what is good.
12 works · 6 passages
Custom and Convention
Ways of acting established by habit or agreement rather than by nature, and their authority in law and morals.
7 works · 1 passages
D
Definition
A statement of what a thing is, or of what a word means; a basic tool of logic and science.
11 works · 0 passages
Democracy
Rule by the people, either directly or through representatives, and its strengths and dangers.
12 works · 6 passages
Desire
The movement of the soul toward something wanted as good or pleasant, from appetite to longing for God.
12 works · 0 passages
Dialectic
Reasoning through question and answer or through opposed positions in order to reach truth.
12 works · 1 passages
Duty
What one is bound to do by law, by one's station, or by the moral law.
12 works · 6 passages
E
Education
The forming of mind and character by teaching, training and example.
12 works · 6 passages
Element
A simplest part out of which things are composed, such as the four elements of ancient science or the elements of modern chemistry.
8 works · 0 passages
Emotion
A passion or feeling, such as fear, anger, joy or grief, and its relation to reason and conduct.
12 works · 5 passages
Equality
Sameness in worth, rights or condition among persons, and its political meaning.
12 works · 6 passages
Eternity
Existence without beginning or end, or outside time altogether, as many traditions say of God.
8 works · 6 passages
Evolution
The development of living kinds over time; especially the theory of descent with modification by natural selection.
2 works · 1 passages
Experience
Knowledge or skill gained from the senses, practice and what has happened to us.
12 works · 0 passages
F
Family
The household of parents, children and kin, and its place in society and the state.
12 works · 6 passages
Fate
A power or order believed to fix events in advance, and its relation to human freedom and providence.
12 works · 6 passages
Form
The shape, structure or essential nature that makes a thing what it is, as distinct from its matter.
12 works · 6 passages
G
God
The supreme being, creator and ruler of all, whose existence and nature are central questions of theology and philosophy.
12 works · 6 passages
Good and Evil
What is desirable, right and perfect, and its opposite; the root questions of ethics.
12 works · 1 passages
Government
The persons and institutions by which a community is ruled, and the forms and purposes of rule.
12 works · 6 passages
H
Habit
A settled disposition formed by repeated action, whether good (virtue) or bad (vice).
11 works · 6 passages
Happiness
The good life or well-being that people seek for its own sake; its nature has been debated since antiquity.
10 works · 6 passages
History
The record and study of past events, and reflection on their meaning and direction.
12 works · 6 passages
Honor
Esteem given for worth or virtue, and the sense of one's own dignity and reputation.
12 works · 0 passages
Hypothesis
A supposition put forward as a starting point for reasoning or to be tested by experiment.
5 works · 3 passages
I
Idea
A concept or object of thought; for Plato, an eternal Form; for later philosophers, a content of the mind.
12 works · 0 passages
Immortality
Unending life, especially the survival of the soul after death or the resurrection of the body.
8 works · 4 passages
Induction
Reasoning from particular cases to a general conclusion.
4 works · 6 passages
Infinity
That which has no limit or end, in number, space, time or power.
0 works · 6 passages
J
K
L
Labor
Work, especially bodily toil, and its dignity, rewards and organisation.
12 works · 0 passages
Language
Speech and writing as the means of human communication and thought.
12 works · 6 passages
Law
A rule of action laid down by rightful authority for the common good; also natural, divine and scientific laws.
12 works · 6 passages
Liberty
Freedom from constraint, or the power of self-government, for persons and for peoples.
12 works · 6 passages
Life and Death
What it is to be alive, and the meaning and fear of dying.
12 works · 6 passages
Logic
The study of correct reasoning, its forms, rules and fallacies.
12 works · 0 passages
Love
Affection and devotion toward another, from desire and friendship to charity and the love of God.
12 works · 6 passages
M
Man
The human being: what human nature is, and how it differs from animals, angels and God.
12 works · 6 passages
Mathematics
The science of number and magnitude, its objects and its methods of proof.
12 works · 2 passages
Matter
The stuff of which bodies are made, and the principle that receives form.
12 works · 0 passages
Mechanics
The science of motion and forces, and of machines.
12 works · 1 passages
Medicine
The art and science of preserving and restoring health.
12 works · 6 passages
Memory and Imagination
The powers of retaining and recalling the past, and of forming images of what is absent or not yet.
12 works · 6 passages
Metaphysics
The study of being as being and of first principles and causes.
12 works · 1 passages
Mind
The power of thinking and understanding, and its relation to the brain and body.
12 works · 0 passages
Monarchy
Rule by one person, especially a king or queen, and its forms and limits.
12 works · 3 passages
N
O
Oligarchy
Rule by a few, usually the wealthy, for their own advantage.
4 works · 1 passages
One and Many
The problem of unity and multiplicity: how many things can be one, and one thing many.
12 works · 6 passages
Opinion
Belief that falls short of certain knowledge, and its role in politics and learning.
12 works · 6 passages
Opposition
Contrariety and conflict among things, ideas or persons.
6 works · 6 passages
P
Philosophy
The love of wisdom: rational inquiry into the most basic questions about reality, knowledge and the good.
12 works · 6 passages
Physics
The study of nature and its bodies, motions and forces.
12 works · 2 passages
Pleasure and Pain
The feelings that accompany attaining or losing what we desire, and their place in the good life.
10 works · 0 passages
Poetry
Imaginative writing in verse or story, and its purposes, kinds and power.
12 works · 6 passages
Principle
A starting point of being, knowing or acting, such as a first truth or a basic rule.
12 works · 0 passages
Progress
Movement toward improvement in knowledge, society or morals, and whether history shows it.
5 works · 6 passages
Prophecy
Speaking for God or foretelling the future, as in the prophets of Scripture and the oracles of antiquity.
10 works · 0 passages
Prudence
Practical wisdom: the virtue of choosing well the means to good ends.
8 works · 6 passages
Punishment
Penalty inflicted for wrongdoing, and its justification, purposes and limits.
8 works · 6 passages
Q
R
Reasoning
Drawing conclusions from premises, by deduction, induction or analogy.
12 works · 0 passages
Relation
The way one thing stands to another, such as cause, likeness, part and whole.
4 works · 0 passages
Religion
The worship of God or the gods, and the beliefs, practices and communities that go with it.
12 works · 0 passages
Revolution
The overthrow or radical change of a political or social order.
12 works · 5 passages
Rhetoric
The art of persuasion by speech and writing.
7 works · 5 passages
S
Same and Other
Identity and difference, likeness and unlikeness among things.
12 works · 0 passages
Science
Organised knowledge of causes, especially knowledge gained by observation, experiment and reasoning.
12 works · 3 passages
Sense
The powers of perception, such as sight and hearing, and what they can tell us.
10 works · 0 passages
Sign and Symbol
Things that stand for other things, from words and numbers to sacraments and images.
6 works · 3 passages
Sin
Wrongdoing considered as an offence against God, and its origin, kinds and remedy.
11 works · 6 passages
Slavery
The holding of persons as property, and arguments about its injustice.
12 works · 6 passages
Soul
The principle of life and thought in a living being, often held to be immortal.
12 works · 6 passages
Space
The extension in which bodies are located and move.
11 works · 0 passages
State
The political community and its authority, purposes and relation to citizens.
12 works · 0 passages
T
Temperance
The virtue of moderation in pleasures, especially of food, drink and the body.
6 works · 2 passages
Theology
Reasoned study of God and of divine things, from revelation and from reason.
12 works · 3 passages
Time
The measure of change and duration, and its puzzles of past, present and future.
12 works · 0 passages
Truth
The agreement of thought or speech with what is, and the ways of reaching it.
12 works · 6 passages
Tyranny
Lawless rule by one who governs for his own good rather than the common good.
6 works · 6 passages
U
V
W
War and Peace
Armed conflict and its causes, justice and conduct, and the conditions of lasting peace.
12 works · 6 passages
Wealth
Riches and property, their production and distribution, and their right use.
12 works · 6 passages
Will
The power of choosing, and its freedom, strength and weakness.
12 works · 2 passages
Wisdom
The highest knowledge of first causes and of how to live well.
10 works · 6 passages
World
The whole of created or existing things, the cosmos, and its origin and order.
12 works · 0 passages