Reading Plan

I manage a YouTube account, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRuggedPyrrhus

FIRST YEAR (889 pages, or 81 pages per month)

January:

1.     PLATO:  Apology, Crito
Vol. 7, pp. 200-219 (20 pages)

2.     ARISTOPHANES:  Clouds, Lysistrata
Vol. 5, pp. 488-506, 583-599 (19 + 17 = 36 pages)

3.     PLATO:  Republic [Book I-II]
Vol. 7, pp. 295-324 (20 pages)

February:

4.     ARISTOTLE:  Ethics [Book I]
Vol. 9, pp. 339-348 (20 pages)

5.     ARISTOTLE:  Politics [Book I]
Vol. 9, pp. 445-455 (11 pages)

6.     PLUTARCH:  The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans [Lycurgus, Numa Pompilius, Lycurgus and Numa Compared, Alexander, Caesar]
Vol. 14, pp. 32-64, 540-604 (33 + 65 = 98 pages)

March:

7.     NEW TESTAMENT:  [The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, The Acts of the Apostles]
(32 + 30 = 62 pages)

April:

8.     ST. AUGUSTINE:  Confessions [Book I-VIII]
Vol. 18, pp. 1-61 (61 pages)

9.     MACHIAVELLI:  The Prince
Vol. 23, pp. 1-37 (37 pages)

May:

10. RABELAIS:  Gargantua and Pantagruel [Book I-II]
Vol. 24, pp. 1-126 (126 pages)

June:

11. MONTAIGNE:  Essays [Of Custom, and That We Should Not Easily Change a Law Received; Of Pedantry; Of the Education of Children; That It Is Folly to Measure Truth and Error by Our Own Capacity; Of Cannibals; That the Relish of Good and Evil Depends in a Great Measure upon the Opinion We Have of Them; Upon Some Verses of Virgil]
Vol. 25, pp. 42-51, 55-82, 91-98, 115-125, 406-434 (10 + 28 + 8 + 11 + 29 = 86 pages)

12. SHAKESPEARE:  Hamlet
Vol. 27, pp. 29-72 (44 pages)

July:

13. LOCKE:  Concerning Civil Government [Second Essay]
Vol. 35, pp. 25-89 (65 pages)

14. ROUSSEAU:  The Social Contract [Book I-II]
Vol. 38, pp. 387-406 (20 pages)

August:

15. GIBBON:  The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire [Ch. 15-16]
Vol. 40, pp. 179-234 (56 pages)

September:

16. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, THE FEDERALIST [Numbers 1-10, 15, 31, 47, 51, 68-71]
Vol. 43, pp. 1-3, 11-20, 29-53, 62-66, 103-105, 153-156, 162-165, 205-216 (3 + 10 + 25 + 5 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 12 = 66 pages)

October:

17. SMITH:  The Wealth of Nations [Introduction—Book I, Ch. 9]
Vol. 39, pp. 1-41 (41 pages)

November:

18. MARX—ENGELS:  Manifesto of the Communist Party
Vol. 50, pp. 415-434 (20 pages)

 

SECOND YEAR (1063 pages, or 97 pages per month)

January:

1.     HOMER:  The Iliad
Vol. 4, pp. 3-179 (177 pages)

February:

2.     AESCHYLUS:  Agamemnon, Choephoroe, Eumenides
Vol. 5, pp. 52-91 (40 pages)

3.     SOPHOCLES:  Oedipus the King, Antigone
Vol. 5, pp. 99-113, 131-142 (15 + 13 = 28 pages)

March:

4.     HERODOTUS:  The History [Book I-II]
Vol. 6, pp. 1-88 (88 pages)

April:

5.     PLATO:  Meno
Vol. 7, pp. 174-190 (17 pages)

6.     ARISTOTLE:  Poetics
Vol. 9, pp. 681-699 (19 pages)

7.     ARISTOTLE:  Ethics [Book II; Book III, Ch. 5-12; Book VI, Ch. 8-13]
Vol. 9, pp. 348-355, 359-366, 390-394 (8 + 7 + 5 = 20 pages)

May:

8.     NICOMACHUS:  Introduction to Arithmetic
Vol. 11, pp. 811-848 (38 pages)

9.     LUCRETIUS:  On the Nature of Things [Book I-IV]
Vol. 12, pp. 1-61 (61 pages)

June:

10. MARCUS AURELIUS:  Meditations
Vol. 12, pp. 253-310 (58 pages)

11. HOBBES:  Leviathan [Part I]
Vol. 23, pp. 45-98 (54 pages)

July – August:

12. MILTON: Areopagitica
Vol. 32, pp. 381-412 (32 pages)

13. PASCAL:  Pensées [Numbers 72, 82-83, 100, 128, 131, 139, 142-143, 171, 194-195, 219, 229, 233-234, 242, 273, 277, 282, 289, 298, 303, 320, 323, 325, 330-331, 374, 385, 392, 395-397, 409, 412-413, 416, 418, 425, 430, 434-435, 463, 491, 525-531, 538, 543, 547, 553, 556, 564, 571, 586, 598, 607-610, 613, 619-620, 631, 640, 644, 673, 675, 684, 692-693, 737, 760, 768, 792-793]
Vol. 33, pp. 181-184, 186-189, 191-192, 195-200, 203, 205-210, 212-218, 222-225, 227, 229-232, 237-251, 255, 259, 264, 275, 277-287, 290-291, 296-302, 318, 321-322, 326-327 (less than 83 pages)

14. PASCAL:  Treatise on the Arithmetical Triangle
Vol. 33, pp. 447-473 (27 pages)

September – October:

15. SWIFT:  Gulliver’s Travels
Vol. 36, pp. xv-184 (approx. 185 pages)

November:

16. ROUSSEAU:  A Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Vol. 38, pp. 323-366 (44 pages)

17. KANT:  Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals
Vol. 42, pp. 253-287 (35 pages)

December:

18. MILL:  On Liberty
Vol. 43, pp. 267-323 (57 pages)

THIRD YEAR (1344 pages, or 122 pages per month)

January:

1.     AESCHYLUS:  Prometheus Bound
Vol. 5, pp. 40-51 (12 pages)

2.     HERODOTUS:  The History [Book VII-IX]
Vol. 6, pp. 214-314 (101 pages)

February:

3.     THUCYDIDES:  The History of the Peloponnesian War [Book I-II, V]
Vol. 6, pp. 349-416, 482-508 (68 + 27 = 95 pages)

4.     PLATO:  Statesman
Vol. 7, pp. 580-608 (29 pages)

March:

5.     ARISTOTLE:  On Interpretation [Ch. 1-10]
Vol. 8, pp. 25-31 (7 pages)

6.     ARISTOTLE:  Politics [Book III-V]
Vol. 9, pp. 471-519 (49 pages)

7.     EUCLID:  Elements [Book I]
Vol. 11, pp. 1-29 (29 pages)

April:

8.     TACITUS:  The Annals
Vol. 15, pp. 1-184 (184 pages)

May-June:

9.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part I-II, QQ 90-97]
Vol. 20, pp. 205-239 (35 pages)

10. CHAUCER:  Troilus and Cressida
Vol. 22, pp. 1-155 (155 pages)

July-August:

11. SHAKESPEARE:  Macbeth
Vol. 27, pp. 284-310 (27 pages)

12. MILTON:  Paradise Lost
Vol. 32, pp. 93-333 (241 pages)

September:

13. LOCKE:  An Essay Concerning Human Understanding [Book III, Ch. 1-3, 9-11]
Vol. 35, pp. 251-260, 285-306 (10 + 22 = 32 pages)

14. KANT:  Science of Right
Vol. 42, pp. 397-458 (62 pages)

October:

15. MILL:  Representative Government [Ch. 1-6]
Vol. 43, pp. 327-370 (44 pages)

16. LAVOISIER:  Elements of Chemistry [Part I]
Vol. 45, pp. 1-52 (52 pages)

November:

17. DOSTOEVSKY:  The Brothers Karamazov [Part I-II]
Vol. 52, pp. 1-170 (170 pages)

December:

18. FREUD:  The Origin and Development of Psychoanalysis
Vol. 54, pp. 1-20 (20 pages)

FOURTH YEAR (1448 pages, or 132 per month)

January:

1.     EURIPIDES:  Medea, Hippolytus, Trojan Women, The Bacchantes
Vol. 5, pp. 212-236, 270-281, 340-352 (25 + 12 + 13 = 50 pages)

2.     PLATO:  Republic [Book VI-VII]
Vol. 7, pp. 373-401 (29 pages)

3.     PLATO:  Theaetetus
Vol. 7, pp. 512-550 (39 pages)

February:

4.     ARISTOTLE:  Physics [Book IV, Ch. 1-5, 10-14]
Vol. 8, pp. 287-292, 297-304 (6 + 8 = 14 pages)

5.     ARISTOTLE:  Metaphysics [Book I, Ch. 1-2; Book IV; Book VI, Ch. 1; Book XI, Ch. 1-4]
Vol. 8, pp. 499-501, 522-532, 547-548, 587-590 (2 + 3 + 2 + 4 = 11 pages)

6.     ST. AUGUSTINE:  Confessions [Book IX-XIII]
Vol. 18, pp. 61-125 (65 pages)

March:

7.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part I, QQ 16-17, 84-88]
Vol. 19, pp. 94-104, 440-473 (11 + 34 = 45 pages)

8.     MONTAIGNE:  Apology for Raymond de Sebonde
Vol. 25, pp. 208-294 (87 pages)

9.     GALILEO:  Two New Sciences [Third Day, through Scholium of Theorem II]
Vol. 28, pp. 197-210 (14 pages)

April:

10. BACON:  Novum Organum [Preface, Book I]
Vol. 30, pp. 105-136 (32 pages)

11. DESCARTES:  Discourse on the Method
Vol. 31, pp. 41-67 (27 pages)

May:

12. NEWTON:  Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy [Prefaces, Definitions, Axioms, General Scholium]
Vol. 34, pp. 1-24, 369-372 (24 + 4 = 28 pages)

13. LOCKE:  An Essay Concerning Human Understanding [Book II]
Vol. 35, pp. 121-251 (131 pages)

June:

14. HUME:  An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
Vol. 35, pp. 450-509 (60 pages)

15. KANT:  Critique of Pure Reason [Prefaces, Introduction, Transcendental Aesthetic]
Vol. 43, pp. 1-33 (33 pages)

July-August:

16. MELVILLE:  Moby Dick
Vol. 48 (420 pages)

September-October:

17. DOSTOEVSKY:  The Brothers Karamazov [Part III-IV]
Vol. 52, pp. 171-412 (242 pages)

November:

18. JAMES:  Principles of Psychology [Ch. XV, XX]
Vol. 53, pp. 396-420, 540-635 (25 + 96 = 121 pages)

December:

Month off!

FIFTH YEAR (1566 pages, or 143 per month)

January:

1.     PLATO:  Phaedo
Vol. 7, pp. 220-251 (32 pages)

2.     ARISTOTLE:  Categories
Vol. 8, pp. 5-21 (17 pages)

3.     ARISTOTLE:  On the Soul [Book II, Ch. 1-3; Book III]
Vol. 8, pp. 642-645, 656-668 (4 + 13 = 17 pages)

4.     HIPPOCRATES:  The Oath; On Ancient Medicine; On Airs, Waters, and Places; The Book of Prognostics; Of the Epidemics; The Law; On the Sacred Disease
Vol. 10, pp. xiii-26, 44-63, 144, 154-160 (approx. 27 + 20 + 1 + 7 = approx. 55 pages)

February-March:

5.     GALEN:  On the Natural Faculties
Vol. 10, pp. 167-215 (49 pages)

6.     VIRGIL:  The Aeneid
Vol. 13, pp. 103-379 (277 pages)

April:

7.     PTOLEMY:  The Almagest [Book I, Ch. 1-8]
COPERNICUS:  Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres [Introduction—Book I-Ch. 11]
KEPLER:  Epitome of Copernican Astronomy [Book IV, Part II, Ch. 1-2]
Vol. 16, pp. 5-14, 505-532, 887-895 (10 + 28 + 9 = 47 pages)

8.     PLOTINUS:  Sixth Ennead
Vol. 17, pp. 252-360 (109 pages)

May:

9.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part I, QQ 75-76, 78-79]
Vol. 19, pp. 378-399, 407-427 (12 + 21 = 33 pages)

10. DANTE:  The Divine Comedy [Hell]
Vol. 21, pp. 1-52 (52 pages)

11. HARVEY:  The Motion of the Heart and Blood
Vol. 28, pp. 267-304 (38 pages)

June:

12. CERVANTES:  Don Quixote [Part I]
Vol. 29, pp. xi-204 (approx. 206 pages)

July:

13. SPINOZA:  Ethics [Part II]
Vol. 31, pp. 373-394 (22 pages)

14. BERKELEY:  The Principles of Human Knowledge
Vol. 35, pp. 403-444 (42 pages)

August:

15. KANT:  Critique of Pure Reason [Transcendental Analytic]
Vol. 43, pp. 34-108 (75 pages)

September:

16. DARWIN:  The Origin of Species [Introduction—Ch. 6, Ch. 15]
Vol. 49, pp. 6-98, 230-243 (93 + 14 = 107 pages)

October-November:

17. TOLSTOY:  War and Peace [Book I-VIII]
Vol. 51, pp. 1-341 (341 pages)

December:

18. JAMES:  Principles of Psychology [Ch. XXVIII]
Vol. 53, pp. 851-897 (47 pages)

SIXTH YEAR (1671 pages, or 152 pages per month)

January:

1.     OLD TESTAMENT [Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy]
(47 + 39 + 35 = 121 pages)

February:

2.     HOMER:  The Odyssey
Vol. 4, pp. 183-322 (140 pages)

March:

3.     PLATO:  Laws [Book X]
Vol. 7, pp. 757-771 (15 pages)

4.     ARISTOTLE:  Metaphysics [Book XII]
Vol. 8, pp. 598-606 (9 pages)

5.     TACITUS:  The Histories
Vol. 15, pp. 189-302 (114 pages)

April:

6.     PLOTINUS:  Fifth Ennead
Vol. 17, pp. 208-251 (44 pages)

7.     ST. AUGUSTINE:  The City of God [Book XV-XVIII]
Vol. 18, pp. 397-507 (111 pages)

May:

8.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part I, QQ 1-13]
Vol. 19, p. 3-75 (73 pages)

9.     DANTE:  The Divine Comedy [Purgatory]
Vol. 21, pp. 53-105 (53 pages)

June:

10. SHAKESPEARE:  Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, Twelfth Night
Vol. 26, pp. 149-169, 199-228, 597-626; Vol. 27, pp. 1-28 (21 + 30 + 30 + 28 = 109 pages)

11. SPINOZA:  Ethics [Part I]
Vol. 31, pp. 355-372 (18 pages)

12. MILTON:  Samson Agonistes
Vol. 32, pp. 337-378 (42 pages)

July:

13. PASCAL:  The Provincial Letters
Vol. 33, pp. 1-167 (167 pages)

August:

14. LOCKE:  An Essay Concerning Human Understanding [Book IV]
Vol. 35, pp. 307-395 (89 pages)

15. GIBBON:  The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire [Ch. 1-5, General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West]
Vol. 40, pp. 1-51, 630-634 (51 + 5 = 56 pages)

September:

16. KANT:  Critique of Pure Reason [Transcendental Dialectic]
Vol. 42, pp. 108-209 (102 pages)

17. HEGEL:  Philosophy of History [Introduction]
Vol. 46, pp. 153-206 (54 pages)

October-November:

18. TOLSTOY:  War and Peace [Book IX-XV, Epilogues]
Vol. 51, pp. 342-696 (355 pages)

December:

Month off!

SEVENTH YEAR (1200 pages, or 109 pages per month)

January:

1.     OLD TESTAMENT [Job, Isaiah, Amos]
(33 + 63 + 7 = 103 pages)

February:

2.     PLATO:  Symposium
Vol. 7, pp. 149-173 (25 pages)

3.     PLATO:  Philebus
Vol. 7, pp. 609-639 (31 pages)

4.     ARISTOTLE:  Ethics [Book VIII-X]
Vol. 9, pp. 406-436 (31 pages)

5.     ARCHIMEDES:  Measurement of a Circle, The Equilibrium of Planes [Book I], The Sand-Recokoner, On Floating Bodies [Book I]
Vol. 11, pp. 447-451, 502-509, 520-526, 538-542 (5 + 8 + 7 + 5 = 25 pages)

March:

6.     EPICTETUS:  Discourses
Vol. 12, pp. 105-245 (141 pages)

April:

7.     PLOTINUS:  First Ennead
Vol. 17, pp. 1-34 (34 pages)

8.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part I-II, QQ 1-5]
Vol. 19, p. 609-643 (35 pages)

9.     DANTE:  The Divine Comedy [Paradise]
Vol. 21, pp. 106-157 (52 pages)

May-June:

10. RABELAIS:  Gargantual and Pantagruel [Book III-IV]
Vol. 24, pp. 127-312 (186 pages)

July:

11. SHAKESPEARE:  Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus
Vol. 26, pp. 568-596; Vol. 27, pp. 311-392 (29 + 82 = 111 pages)

August:

12. GALILEO:  Two New Sciences [First Day]
Vol. 28, pp. 131-177 (47 pages)

13. SPINOZA:  Ethics [Part IV-V]
Vol. 31, pp. 422-463 (42 pages)

September:

14. NEWTON:  Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy [Book III, Rules], Optics [Book I, Part I; Book III, Queries]
Vol. 34, pp. 270-271, 379-423, 516-544 (2 + 45 + 29 = 76 pages)

15. HUYGENS:  Treatise on Light
Vol. 34, pp. 551-619 (69 pages)

October:

16. KANT:  Critique of Practical Reason
Vol. 42, pp. 291-361 (71 pages)

November:

17. KANT:  Critique of Judgement [Critique of Aesthetic Judegment]
Vol. 42, pp. 461-549 (89 pages)

December:

18. MILL:  Utilitarianism
Vol. 43, pp. 445-476 (32 pages)

EIGHTH YEAR (1352 pages, or 123 pages per month)

January:

1.     ARISTOPHANES:  Thesmophoriazusae, Ecclesiazusae, Plutus
Vol. 5, pp. 600-642 (43 pages)

2.     PLATO:  Gorgias
Vol. 7, pp. 252-294 (43 pages)

3.     ARISTOTLE:  Ethics [Book V]
Vol. 9, pp. 376-387 (12 pages)

February:

4.     ARISTOTLE:  Rhetoric [Book I, Ch. 1—Book II, Ch. 1; Book II, Ch. 20—Book III, Ch. 1; Book III, Ch. 13-19]
Vol. 9, pp. 593-623, 640-654, 667-675 (31 + 15 + 9 = 55 pages)

5.     ST. AUGUSTINE:  On Christian Doctrine
Vol. 19, pp. 619-698 (80 pages)

March:

6.     HOBBES:  Leviathan [Part II]
Vol. 23, pp. 99-164 (66 pages)

7.     SHAKESPEARE:  Othello, King Lear
Vol. 27, pp. 205-283 (79 pages)

April:

8.     BACON:  Advancement of Learning [Book I, Ch. 1—Book II, Ch. 11]
Vol. 30, pp. 1-55 (55 pages)

9.     DESCARTES:  Meditations on the First Philosophy
Vol. 31, pp. 69-103 (35 pages)

May:

10. SPINOZA:  Ethics [Part III]
Vol. 31, pp. 395-422 (28 pages)

11. LOCKE:  A Letter Concerning Toleration
Vol. 35, pp. 1-22 (22 pages)

June – July:

12. STERNE:  Tristam Shandy
Vol. 36, pp. 190-556 (367 pages)

August:

13. ROUSSEAU:  A Discourse on Political Economy
Vol. 38, pp. 367-385 (19 pages)

14. ADAM SMITH:  The Wealth of Nations [Book II]
Vol. 39, pp. 117-162 (46 pages)

15. BOSWELL:  The Life of Samuel Johnson
Vol. 44, pp. 49-55, 104-139, 159-173, 247-262, 281-322 (7 + 36 + 15 + 16 + 42 = 74 pages)

September:

16. MARX:  Capital [Prefaces, Part I-II]
Vol. 50, pp. 1-84 (84 pages)

October:

17. GOETHE:  Faust [Part I]
Vol. 47, pp. 1-114 (114 pages)

November:

18. JAMES:  Principles of Psychology [Ch. VIII-X]
Vol. 53, pp. 130-259 (130 pages)

December:

Month off!

NINTH YEAR (Est. 1392 pages, or 127 pages per month)

January:

1.     PLATO:  The Sophist
Vol. 7, pp. 551-579 (29 pages)

2.     THUCYDIDES:  The History of the Peloponnesian War [Book VII-VIII]
Vol. 6, pp. 538-593 (56 pages)

3.     ARISTOTLE:  Politics [Book VII-VIII]
Vol. 9, pp. 527-548 (22 pages)

February:

4.     APOLLONIUS:  On Conic Sections [Book I, Prop. 1-15; Book III, Prop. 42-55]
Vol. 11, pp. 603-624, 780-797 (22 + 18 = 40 pages)

5.     NEW TESTAMENT [The Gospel According to St. John, The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, The First Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians]
(25 + 14 + 12 = 51 pages)

March:

6.     ST. AUGUSTINE:  The City of God [Book V, XIX]
Vol. 18, pp. 207-230, 507-530 (24 + 24 = 48 pages)

7.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part II-II, QQ 1-7]
Vol. 20, pp. 380-416 (37 pages)

April:

8.     GILBERT:  On the Loadstone
Vol. 28, pp. 1-121 (121 pages)

May:

9.     DESCARTES:  Rules for the Direction of the Mind
Vol. 31, pp. 1-40 (40 pages)

10. DESCARTES:  Geometry
Vol. 31, pp. 295-353 (59 pages)

11. PASCAL:  The Great Experiment Concerning the Equilibrium of Fluids, On Geometrical Demonstration
Vol. 33, pp. 382-389, 430-446 (8 + 17 = 25 pages)

June-July:

12. FIELDING:  Tom Jones
Vol. 37 (405 pages)

August:

13. MONTESQUIEU:  The Spirit of Laws [Book I-V, VIII, XI-XII]
Vol. 38, pp. 1-33, 51-58, 68-96 (33 + 8 + 29 = 70 pages)

14. FOURIER:  Analytical Theory of Heat [Preliminary Discourse, Ch. 1-2]
Vol. 45, pp. 169-251 (83 pages)

September:

15. FARADAY:  Experimental Researches in Electricity [Series I-II], A Speculation Touching Electric Conduction and the Nature of Matter
Vol. 45, pp. 265-302, 850-855 (38 + 6 = 44 pages)

16. HEGEL:  Philosophy of Right [Part III]
Vol. 46, pp. 55-114 (60 pages)

October-November:

17. MARX:  Capital [Part III-IV]
Vol. 50, pp. 85-250 (166 pages)

18. FREUD:  Civilization and Its Discontents
Vol. 54, pp. 767-802 (36 pages)

December:

Month off!

TENTH YEAR (1667 pages, or 152 pages per month)

January:

1.     SOPHOCLES:  Ajax, Electra
Vol. 5, pp. 143-169 (27 pages)

2.     PLATO:  Timaeus
Vol. 7, pp. 442-477 (36 pages)

3.     ARISTOTLE:  On the Parts of Animals [Book I, Ch. 1—Book II, Ch. 1], On the Generation of Animals [Book I, Ch. 1, 17-18, 20-23]
Vol. 9, pp. 161-171, 255-256, 261-266, 268-271 (11 + 2 + 6 + 4 = 23 pages)

4.     LUCRETIUS:  On the Nature of Things [Book V-VI]
Vol. 12, pp. 61-97 (37 pages)

February:

5.     VIRGIL:  The Eclogues, The Georgics
Vol. 13, pp. 3-99 (97 pages)

6.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part I, QQ 65-74]
Vol. 19, pp. 339-377 (39 pages)

7.     ST. THOMAS AQUINAS:  Summa Theologica [Part I, QQ 90-102]
Vol. 19, pp. 480-527 (48 pages)

March:

8.     CHAUCER:  Canterbury Tales [Prologue, Knight’s Tale, Miller’s Prologue and Tale, Reeve’s Prologue and Tale, Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, Friar’s Prologue and Tale, Summoner’s Prologue and Tale, Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale]
Vol. 22, pp. 159-232, 256-295, 372-382 (34 + 40 + 11 = 85 pages)

April:

9.     SHAKESPEARE:  The Tragedy of King Richard II, The First Part of King Henry IV, The Second Part of King Henry IV, The Life of King Henry V
Vol. 26, pp. 320-351, 434-502, 532-567 (32 + 69 + 36 = 137 pages)

May:

10. HARVEY:  On the Generation of Animals [Introduction—Exercise 62]
Vol. 28, pp. 331-470 (140 pages)

June:

11. CERVANTES:  Don Quixote [Part II]
Vol. 29, pp. 203-429 (227 pages)

July:

12. KANT:  Critique of Judgement [Critique of Teleological Judgement]
Vol. 42, pp. 550-613 (64 pages)

13. BOSWELL:  The Life of Samuel Johnson
Vol. 44, pp. 354-364, 373-384, 391-407, 498-515, 584-587 (11 + 12 + 17 + 18 + 4 = 62 pages)

August:

14. GOETHE:  Faust [Part II]
Vol. 47, pp. 115-294 (180 pages)

September:

15. DARWIN:  The Descent of Man [Part I; Part III, Ch. 21]
Vol. 49, pp. 255-363, 590-597 (109 + 8 = 117 pages)

October:

16. MARX:  Capital [Part VII-VIII]
Vol. 50, pp. 279-383 (105 pages)

17. JAMES:  Principles of Psychology [Ch. I, V-VII]
Vol. 53, pp. 1-7, 84-129 (7 + 46 = 53 pages)

November:

18. FREUD:  A General Introduction to Psycho-analysis
Vol. 54, pp. 449-638 (190 pages)

December:

Month off!

44 thoughts on “Reading Plan”

  1. That’s quite an impressive feast you have before you. If you get the chance could you add the citations to your list so that we can see which editions/translations you are recommending. Thanks.

  2. This is the best Blog ever! It’s like a cheat sheet for book lovers and history buffs. Thank you for doing this. I think the more people that find this blog the happier people will be. (so never get rid of it)

  3. Wow! That is one amazing list! I find it interesting how you have broken the works up… Was it just manageable chunks or that those pages spoke to a theme… Some o my favorites on the list are tolstoy, Shakespeare, chaucer and Freud!

    1. I agree with you – Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Freud are three of my favorite writers and thinkers. I am relatively unfamiliar with Russian literature. I have read most of the works of Dostoevsky and Chekhov, but I regrettably have not read a word of Tolstoy, Gogol, or Pushkin. At least I have something to look forward to 🙂

  4. Thanks for the plan outline. I will share it with folks on my blog, when I next write in response to the questions I have received pertaining to how long it takes to read the GBWW. Academics read at break-neck speeds, covering the list very, very quickly, and I think that daunts the general readership. What you have here is a very nice breakdown of how anyone could read the set –and a reasonable way for anyone to go about it.

  5. Ah, one more thing. I noticed that Hardy’s “A Mathematician’s Apology” is not in your plan, so I am assuming you are doing the first edition of the GBWW. Have you considered doing the added volumes and texts in the second edition, or do you have a reason for just doing the first alone?

    1. You are correct – I am focusing solely on the first edition of the series. My reason for doing this is simply that some of the texts in the second edition are not available in the public domain. I intend to finish the first edition before investing time and money in tracking down some of the texts in the second edition.

      1. That makes sense. I definitely do recommend the additional volumes. The good thing about going through the first edition is that you won’t miss out on those pieces that are omitted in the second.

  6. Wow! I’m checking out your reading plan, amazing. I would be interested in comparing it to the Guardian 1000 list. Your’s looks much more ambitious, intellectually! Good luck!

    1. Yes! I have been following his blog since April of last year. It was one of the primary inspirations for me to begin my own quest to read through the series. I also follow the progress of another person who is taking on the GBWW here: http://fpbooks.blogspot.com/

      I find it helpful to read different interpretations of the texts. They identify many important insights that I overlook.

    1. Year 4: GALILEO: Two New Sciences [Third Day, through Scholium of Theorem II]

      I do not follow the suggested times for reading a particular work. I merely read the assigned material and comment upon it. Once I finish a reading, I move on to the next one, regardless of how long it takes for me to finish it.

    1. I did not make the reading plan. It was provided by the publishers of the series.

      Nevertheless, I think that there is a fair balance between religious and secular writings.

  7. Great. A very thorough list all in one place. Now I have no excuse but to begin by goal of educating myself further in western thought. many thanks

  8. Good grief ! I’m astounded that a human can retain all this reading, I revise Joyces Ullysess once a year and am still astonished by it, I have read Montainges complete works a few years ago and though I loved it I could not quote from it. I have read most of Rumi’s poetry but could not recite it. I know I have read Dantes inferno in the past(thank you my brilliant english teacher, though you told me off for reading Ullysess when I was 14 as you felt I would never read it again, I proved you wrong) Maybe I am just getting too old and forgetful, Hats off to you Sir 🙂

    1. Thank you so much for your kind words! I certainly don’t retain all the information that I read, and perhaps that isn’t such a disadvantage in the modern era of the Internet when answers are only a Google search away. But I think that it is more important to actualize the concepts found in these texts than to merely memorize them. Fortunately, we both seem to be doing that very well 🙂

      Best of luck in 2015 Steph!

    1. I do not intend to deviate from this list until I have finished it. But I will certainly include female authors on my next plan.

      I wish that I could think of a female work that is comparable to these titles, but I’m drawing a blank. Do you have any suggestions?

  9. Good point, the kind of authors whose works you have on the reading plan are hard to find female counterparts to.

    I googled “ancient female philosophers” here: http://tinyurl.com/mxf724k

    Found this list of ancient Green female philosophers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Ancient_Greek_women_philosophers

    And other female philosophers: http://www.ellinesunited.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=103&Itemid=227

    Found this list of works by ancient female philosopher Hypatia (they seem mathematics heavy): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypatia#Works

    Perhaps this helps you get a start. Good luck in your reading!

  10. Do you have any clue what rational lays behind this list? First the arrangement. It does not follow the actual set, and consequently it isn’t remotely chronological. Nor is it arranged by author in order to let you read all the books of a single author before moving on. Nor does it seem to be arranged topically. Secondly, the timeframe, why ten years? Why not a shorter period? Have you found the amount of reading cumbersome?

    1. The editors do explain their process of selecting and arranging the books. Unfortunately, I cannot find the explanation online and I do not own the volumes. However, I vaguely remember that they emphasized chronological order within each year and clusters of books that discussed one topic from different points of view.

      The editors decided on ten years because they wanted the reader to ‘thoroughly’ read the books, to seriously think about the ideas presented, consider the strength of the arguments, identify flaws in the author’s reasoning, apply the ideas to a modern context, understand how the books fit into the evolution of western thought, etc.

      The reading plan is not cumbersome. It is definitely possible to finish the reading plan in less than ten years. I have taken a hiatus from the plan because my son was born 3 months ago and he fills the time that I used to devote to reading. But I will likely start reading again soon because he is becoming more and more independent. I believe I was on track to finish in less than 5 years before I paused.

  11. Thanks. I just picked up half the set at a large book sale for $10. This includes the first three volumes. Perhaps this explanation is to be found in the first volume. I have just finished professional exams. Studying for these was very time consuming. Now that they are finished I expect I will have the time to dedicate to this. Thank you again.

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The unexamined life is not worth living.