A second look in the rear-view mirror
further autobiographical reflections of a Philosopher at large
"Fifteen years ago, when I was only seventy-five years old, I wrote my autobiography prematurely ... Much has happened in my life since then ... I am, therefore, impelled to take a second look in the rearview mirror and hope that those who found the earlier volume engaging will be similarly entertained by this one." So begins A Second Look in the Rearview Mirror Mortimer Adler's continuing intellectual autobiography, the record of the development and evolution of his mind, his personal philosophy, and his analytical powers. Here, the second volume of Dr. Adler's autobiography describes the editorial process that led to the second (and enormously controversial) edition of Great Books of the Western World; the inauguration of the Paideia Project for educational reform; and Dr. Adler's involvement with the Aspen Institute. Drawing on unpublished materials, fugitive papers, and materials no longer in print and therefore inaccessible, A Second Look is enriched with portraits of luminaries such as Robert Hutchins, Jacques Barzun, and Henry and Clare Boothe Luce, and describes, for the first time in print, the religious conversion that led, after a life of principled atheism, to his formal baptism into the Episcopal Church at the age of eighty-four. As engaging and challenging as the life it documents - chapters include "Academic Misimpressions," "Departure from Academic Life," "Educational Reform," "Editorial Work," "The Aspen Institute," "Teaching and Learning," "The Vocation of Philosophy," "A Philosopher's Religious Faith," and "The Blessings of Good Fortune"--A Second Look in the Rearview Mirror is intellectual entertainment of the highest order.
