One reason Mr. Adler is a perennially favorite guest is his aura of having been formed-unlike, alas, all too many academics-by the great works of Western Civilization that he has studied these many years. Another reason is that he is never more abstract than he needs to be: many of the concepts he discusses are difficult, but whenever possible he brings in graspable details. One sample: "Everyone who's not in an asylum-for his own good or for the public good-a person who's allowed to raise a family, hold a job, move around the streets at will, is a person who has enough intelligence to be a citizen and enough intelligence to be educated ... I think we haven't begun to release the amount of intellectual energy in the minds of the least of us who are not pathologically disabled."