Registration for the 2027 Great Books Series will open on Thursday, November 12 at 10:00 am Mountain.
In 1947, University of Chicago educators Robert Maynard Hutchins, then-president of the university, and Professor Mortimer J. Adler founded the Great Books Foundation to bring together avid readers to discuss enduring ideas and issues. Three years later, they collaborated with Walter Paepcke to establish the Aspen Institute, with which the Great Books program remains closely aligned today.
This five-week program invites participants to explore some of the most influential works in Western thought through guided weekly discussions. Moderators Susan Carrese and Sandi Kister will lead the 2027 series, which will explore the theme “Exploring the Good Life Through the Great Books.”
Our sessions will focus on how ten “great books”—philosophical, literary, theological—address one seemingly transcendent human question: What is a good life? Should we navigate life’s journey oriented toward some idea of human flourishing? If so, which values or virtues could orient us? Can we use individual reason, rather than tradition, to choose our “goods”? While this modern turn toward individual reason has allowed us to liberate ourselves from communal norms, resulting in greater autonomy, has this progress also had consequences, personal or societal? Do human beings need an idea of the good, perhaps even a common good, in order to thrive? Through our discussions, an expanded ethical vocabulary, and a retinue of memorable “characters,” the challenge will be to consider different approaches to such concepts as happiness, friendship, love, moderation, humility, duty, community, reason, spirituality, prudence, free will—or, in sum, human flourishing in our everyday lives.
Exploring the Good Life Through the Great Books
January 27: Exploring an Aristotelian Idea of the Good
–Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (selections)
–Shakespeare, The Tempest (excerpts)
February 3: Exploring a Judeo-Christian Idea of the Good
–Hebrew Bible & New Testament (selections)
–Dante, The Divine Comedy (Purgatorio selections)
February 10: Exploring the Machiavellian Critique of the Good
–Machiavelli, The Prince (selections)
–Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Macbeth (excerpts)
February 17: Exploring the Nietzschean Critique of the Good
–Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil (selections)
–Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (“The Grand Inquisitor”)
February 24: Do Humans Need an Idea of the Good? A Common Good?
–Goethe, Faust (Part I only)
Fee: $325, includes all sessions, refreshments, and reading materials. Scholarships are available.
Sessions will take place at the Koch Building on the Aspen Meadows campus.
For the most up-to-date information on registration and our other programs, sign up for our e-newsletter here.
Events
2026 Great Books – The Spirit/Soul
View Event
2026 Great Books – The Mind
View Event
2026 Great Books – The Body
View Event
2026 Great Books – The Triad
View Event
