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Mortimer Adler Sums Up
Collection StructureFiring Line broadcast records > Episode guide > Mortimer Adler Sums Up
Item Title Mortimer Adler Sums Up
Guest Adler, Mortimer Jerome (1902-2001)
Host Buckley, William F., Jr. (1925-2008)
Date CreatedNovember 30, 1992
Description

Some familiar topics are covered in this rich conversation with a favorite Firing Line guest-on the importance of philosophy to the ordinary person; on teaching as "a cooperative art"-but also something quite new: MA: "When one prays to God one believes in God as one does not believe if one affirms God's existence as a philosopher. So one has gone beyond philosophy. The leap of faith is not from less sure grounds for the affirmation of God's existence to more sure grounds, but it's from the affirmation of God's existence to belief in God as benevolent, caring, just, and merciful." WFB: "Your discovery of God was in the nature of an epiphany rather than in the nature of philosophical deduction." MA: "Absolutely." WFB: "But having had that epiphany you then proceeded-I know from a knowledge of your books-to make certain deductions which in your judgment directed thought about God in a fruitful channel, but not necessarily led to His discovery." MA: "No. The leap of faith involves going beyond argument to what cannot be proved, and the sign that one has made that leap is asking God for help." (Note: Mr. Adler would become a Catholic in 1999, at the age of 96.)

Language(s)
Country of Origin
Place RecordedNew York City, New York, United States
DimensionsDuration: 30 minutes
FormatText
Medium television programs
Aspect Ratio
4:3
Color
color
Soundtrack
sound
Hoover IDProgram S0954
Record Number80040.1209
NotesVideo available through special order.
RightsCopyright held by Stanford University. This copy is provided for educational and research purposes only. No publication, further reproduction, or reuse of copies, beyond fair use, may be made without the express written permission of the Hoover Institution Library & Archives on behalf of Stanford University.

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