One of the most obvious features of a school is its curriculum, and within its curriculum, the list of books read. 因此, when a school has a “great books” curriculum, it is almost inevitable that it should be characterized as 那种 学校的. In studying the nature and purpose of the school, one begins with this assumption, and tries to understand everything within its light. 相应的, since 托马斯·阿奎那 College has such a curriculum, 它经常被比作使用相同书籍的其他学校, and its educational program is assumed to be essentially the same.
伟大的书籍vs. 教科书
Such an assumption is reasonable, for not only is this reading a true point of resemblance, 但它也基于在相当程度上是共同的原则. 首先, 人们普遍认为，名著在本质上比各地大学课程中取代它们的大量教科书要好. 这些后者, 事实上, 是为了使前者更容易获得，并以某种方式将它们与能力较弱的人相匹配. They are the outgrowth of necessities imposed by universal education, 并遭受内容淡化的痛苦，这是这种教育不可避免的特点. 这就是为什么一个以最好的为目标的学校必然会集中精力研究伟大的书籍, 寻找有能力和奉献精神的学生向他们学习.
人们喜欢名著而不喜欢教科书的另一个原因是后者, almost without exception, are “secondary sources” — that is, they are two steps removed from reality. They are, as it were, thoughts about thoughts. 伟大的书, 相比之下, are much closer to common experience in its fullness; they raise questions and pursue inquiries which arise directly from a wonder about things themselves. 基于这个理由, they are of the greatest importance to beginners, 因为如果思想要结出果实，它们就必须从思想本身开始.
学习名著的第三个原因是，学生们因此被允许和鼓励直接熟悉最伟大的思想. 他们并不局限于教师和教科书作者的思想, 这几乎不可能是对那些更完整、更有力地存在于伟大著作本身的东西的削弱或扭曲的看法. And when educators themselves have been educated in such a way, and for many generations, the original light can scarcely be seen. But with a study of the great books, 学生有更好的机会遇到智慧，并成为明智的自己.
伟大的书: A Great Defense
最后, the careful study of the great books, especially at the beginning of one’s education, 这是对抗让现代人不堪重负的非反思性历史主义的最佳防御吗. 这里所说的“历史决定论”是指坚持每一项人类工作都必须在其历史背景中进行研究, as a “moment” in some historical process. 这种历史决定论的结果是，每一部作品实际上都有人阅读, 如果有的话, 残缺不全, and within a framework peculiarly modern, imposed by contemporary assumptions which may be no more than fashions. 由于习惯，这个框架本身很少被注意到，也从来没有被研究过. But when one has had independent access to the great books, this historicism becomes conspicuous, and is no longer assumed as a matter of course. 一个人开始阅读这些书，因为他们写的和考虑问题本身的优点.
The Same Means, But Different Ends
诸如此类的原因是大多数拥有优秀图书课程的学校的共同点. 然而, it is possible to overestimate these resemblances, and to be impressed by the likenesses which, though true and significant, 都是次要的. One may be misled by the maxim, plausible enough in itself, that what is held in common is what is most important. 在目前的情况下, the application of this maxim would be seriously mistaken, for it would confuse a community of means with a community of ends. 这就像是断言，我们所使用的共同道路网络比我们沿着这些道路到达的各种目的地更重要. 或者假设既然我们都走同一条路，我们都要去同一个地方. For the books will be read, 不仅仅是为了阅读, but for some further purpose, 这个目的是什么，会有很大的不同，甚至会有很大的不同. Distracted by obvious but secondary points of resemblance, one may not discern significant differences in ends.
When one finds a Catholic school with a great books curriculum, 人们倾向于认为天主教信仰是附带的教育计划, and that (at most) it modifies but does not determine that program. This inclination is encouraged by Catholic educators themselves, 在他们的学校里，天主教基本上已经变成了一种不可名状的、无足轻重的“存在”.看来，天主教对孩子的教育有影响，但对孩子的教育没有影响. 在这个观点中, the end of a great books education, and perhaps of liberal education generally, would transcend such a difference. 然而，由于这种分歧关系到最伟大、最重要的真理, one might well wonder what this common end could be. 如果它不是源于对最高问题的共同信念, it must concern something inferior, 也许微不足道.
Radical Disagreements
A similar difficulty arises about the great books themselves. By what standard are they judged great? Is it that they contain a true doctrine about the highest matters? Perhaps some of them do, 但作为一个群体，他们在这些问题上存在着根本的分歧, 不仅是BG电子他们的真理，而且是BG电子追求真理的正确方法. 他们甚至对什么是值得研究的，是否真的有“最高的事情”存在分歧.” If the end of liberal education is a kind of wisdom, however imperfectly achieved, most of these books must be judged failures.
因此, when viewed as defining a certain kind of education, the great books cannot be regarded as teachers, nor their students as disciples. 由于他们种类繁多，相互对立，他们排除了门徒. 当然，从这样的课程中可能会产生对特定主人的门徒训练——一个人可能会, 例如, become a Cartesian through reading Descartes. But discipleship cannot be the intent of such a curriculum, 一个学校也不能用门徒训练来定义自己，同时又用名著来定义自己的教育计划. 因此, 例如, 没有一所学校这样定义自己的教育计划，可以诚实地说自己是天主教的, since to be a Catholic is to be a disciple of a very particular kind.
The Catholic Intellectual Tradition
天主教会的思想传统包含了一个BG电子教育应该是什么的清晰而详细的描述. Perhaps more than any other tradition, it insists that there are great books, but it goes much further than this. It explains why certain books are great, 它根据他们的卓越和权威来区分他们. 但它并不把理解名著本身作为目的. 而, 它要求对所有这类书籍进行研究，以理解BG电子现实的真相——一个它充满信心地谈论的现实, from the word of God which it receives in faith.
马库斯R. Berquist was a founder of 托马斯·阿奎那 College. 在2010年去世前，他在该校教职工作了40年.