Mortimer Adler Archives - Jo-Anne Kirkman

Open pages of The Great Conversation discussing dialogue between Eastern and Western traditions.

east-and-west-dialogue-between-civilizations

Jo-Anne Kirkman • March 13, 2026

What makes dialogue between civilizations possible? Reflecting on Mortimer Adler’s East and West, this essay explores the fragile boundary between disagreement and dehumanization.

Civilization, Dialogue, Great conversation, Human Formation, intellectual life, Mortimer Adler, Philosophy

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Spine of Mortimer Adler's "The Great Conversation"lying on a wooden table with the garden softly blurred in the background

Conversations

On Being Human Adler

Jo-Anne Kirkman • December 3, 2025

From a farm table in 2025, with Mortimer Adler’s Great Conversation on my lap, I’m asking what it means to be a successful human being now — beyond outcomes, performance, and profiles — and how far I’m willing to develop my own humanity.

becoming human, Great conversation, human dignity, liberal education, Mortimer Adler, outcomes vs process, success and becoming

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