The Great Discussion - Exodus Books

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Since ancient times, man has asked, "what is true about the world? What is good? What is evil? Does God exist? What are man's obligations to God? What are man's obligations to society?" These and other questions, and the answers that men have written constitute what has been called The Great Discussion. A formal study of these questions is part of a study of philosophy, but it is only in the last few decades that the study of philosophy has been restricted to "experts." In the past, knowledge of the Great Discussion was considered a vital part of every civilized person's basic education.

We think it is still a crucial part of education. Reading the classics will give us a perspective that is broader than the merely contemporary. Every age has its own outlook, talent at seeing certain truths—and proneness to certain mistakes. As C. S. Lewis wrote,

"...we all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of own period. And that means the old books...The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes."

His concluding advice?

"It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones."

Students should read the ideas of great authors and thinkers for themselves, rather than just textbooks which sift the ideas through another person's view. But they should do this in light of God's word, evaluating the words of human authors by the Word of truth. The books in this section often include more mature content, and are usually at a more difficult reading level. To stretch your level of reading and wrap your mind around new—or old!—ideas, this is the place to start!

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The Great Discussion

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	Abraham Lincoln: Great Speeches Dover Thrift Editions by Abraham Lincoln & John Grafton, editor from Dover Publications Political Philosophy for 10th-Adult in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19) $2.00
	Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates Signet Classics by Patrick Henry & John DeWitt from Signet Classics American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $7.95
	Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates by Patrick Henry & John DeWitt from Dover Publications American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $6.00
	Antigone Dover Thrift Editions by Sophocles, translated by Sir George Young from Dover Publications Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $3.00 $2.00 (2 in stock)
	Antigone by Sophocles from Hackett Publishing Company Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $10.50
	Antony and Cleopatra Dover Thrift Editions by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Historical Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $4.00
	As You Like It Dover Thrift Editions by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Comedy for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $5.00
	Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings Signet Classics by Benjamin Franklin Reprint from Signet Classics Autobiography for 9th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $5.95
	Beowulf Dover Thrift Editions by Anonymous, translated by R. K. Gordon from Dover Publications Medieval Epic for 8th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $3.00
	City of God Penguin Classics by Augustine of Hippo (translated by Henry Bettenson) from Penguin Classics Ancient/Medieval Theology for 11th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $18.00
	Common Sense Dover Thrift Editions by Thomas Paine from Dover Publications Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $4.00
	Confessions of Saint Augustine Penguin Classics by Augustine of Hippo (introduction & translation by R.S. Pine-Coffin) from Penguin Classics Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $10.00
	Confessions of Saint Augustine Penguin Classics by Augustine of Hippo (translation by John K. Ryan) from Image Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $17.00
	Confessions of Saint Augustine Penguin Classics by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Maria Boulding) from Vintage Classics Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $14.95
	Confessions of Saint Augustine Penguin Classics by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Garry Wills) from Penguin Classics Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $16.00
	Confessions of Saint Augustine by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Sarah Ruden) from Modern Library Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $16.00
	Confessions of Saint Augustine by Augustine of Hippo (translation by Thomas Williams) from Hackett Publishing Company Autobiography/Devotional Material for 11th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $12.00 (1 in stock)
	Declaration of Independence and Other Great Documents of American History Dover Thrift Editions by John Grafton, editor from Dover Publications Primary Source Documents for 9th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $4.00
	Faerie Queene Penguin Classics by Edmund Spenser from Penguin Classics Allegory/Epic Poetry for 10th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $22.00
	Federalist Papers Signet Classics by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay from Signet Classics American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $7.95
	Federalist Papers Dover Thrift series by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay from Dover Publications American Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $7.00
	Great Dialogues of Plato Signet Classics by Plato from Signet Classics Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $6.95
	Gulliver's Travels Puffin Classics by Jonathan Swift from Puffin Books Satire/Social Commentary for 9th-Adult in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF) $7.99
	Hamlet The Pelican Shakespeare by William Shakespeare from Penguin Putnam Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $2.50 (1 in stock)
	Henry V by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Historical Drama for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $4.00
	Iliad Signet Classics by Homer (translation by W.H.D. Rouse), Afterword by Adam Nicolson from Signet Classics Ancient Literature for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $6.95
	Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis from Penguin Classics Devotional Material for 10th-Adult in Medieval Literature (Location: LIT2-MED) $15.00
	In Praise of Folly Dover Thrift Editions by Desiderius Erasmus from Dover Publications Religious Satire for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $3.00
	Julius Caesar Dover Thrift Editions by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Historical Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $4.00
	Julius Caesar Barron's Shakespeare Made Easy by William Shakespeare 1st U.S. from Barron's Historical Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $5.00 (1 in stock)
	King John and Henry VIII by William Shakespeare from Bantam Books Historical Drama for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $5.99 $3.00 (2 in stock)
	King Lear Dover Thrift Editions by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Tragedy for Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $6.00
	Last Days of Socrates Penguin Classics by Plato from Penguin Classics Ancient Philosophy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $14.00
	Much Ado About Nothing Dover Thrift Editions by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Comedy for 9th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $3.00
	Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle from Dover Publications Ancient Greek Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $6.00
	Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle from University of Chicago Ancient Greek Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $15.00
	Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle from Hackett Publishing Company Ancient Greek Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $21.00
	Odyssey Signet Classics by Homer, prose translation by W.H.D. Rouse from Signet Classics Ancient Literature for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $5.95
	Oedipus at Colonus Dover Thrift Editions by Sophocles, translated by Sir George Young from Dover Publications Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $3.00 $2.00 (3 in stock)
	Oedipus Rex Dover Thrift Editions by Sophocles, translated by Sir George Young from Dover Publications Ancient Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $4.00
	One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Signet Classics by Alexander Solzhenitsyn from Signet Classics Classic Literature for 10th-Adult in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20) $5.95
	Oresteia Trilogy Agamemnon, The Libation-Bearers and The Furies Dover Thrift Editions by Aeschylus from Dover Publications Ancient Greek Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $5.00
	Peloponnesian War by Rex Warner (translator) from Penguin Putnam for 10th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC)
	Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan from Dover Publications Christian Prose Epic/Allegory for 10th-Adult in 17th Century Literature (Location: LIT4-17) $7.00
	Poetics by Aristotle from Dover Publications Ancient Greek Philosophy of the Arts for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $2.00
	Politics A Treatise on Government by Aristotle from Dover Publications Ancient Greek Political Philosophy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $7.00
	Practice of the Presence of God with Spiritual Maxims The spiritual secrets of a humble brother who enjoyed closeness with God by Brother Lawrence from Baker Books for 11th-Adult in Spiritual Disciplines (Location: XCL-SPDI) $5.99
	Prince, The Dover Thrift Editions by Niccolo Machiavelli from Dover Publications Political Philosophy for 11th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $4.00
	Prometheus Bound Dover Thrift Editions by Aeschylus from Dover Publications Ancient Greek Tragedy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $2.50
	Republic Dover Thrift Editions by Plato from Dover Publications Ancient Philosophy/Utopian Literature for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $5.00
	Republic by Plato from Oxford University Classic Literature for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $9.95
	Republic by Plato (translation by Desmond Lee) from Penguin Classics Classic Literature for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $13.00
	Rhetoric by Aristotle from Dover Publications Ancient Greek Philosophy for 9th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $8.00
	Selected Poems of John Donne Dover Thrift Editions by John Donne from Dover Publications Lyrical Poetry for 10th-Adult in Poetry (Location: POET-GEN) $1.50 (1 in stock)
	Taming of the Shrew Dover Thrift Editions by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Elizabethan Drama for 10th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $4.00 $1.00 (29 in stock)
	Trial and Death of Socrates Four Dialogues Dover Thrift Editions by Plato from Dover Publications Ancient Philosophy for 10th-Adult in Ancient Literature (Location: LIT1-ANC) $4.00 $2.00 (1 in stock)
	Twelfth Night or, What You Will Dover Thrift Editions by William Shakespeare from Dover Publications Comedy for 10th-Adult in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN) $3.00
	Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith from Bantam Books for 10th-Adult in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18) $9.99

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