Mortimer is a digital syntopicon that organizes the foundational ideas of Western thought into 102 topics, with over 3,000 subtopics and 100,000+ passages from history's greatest thinkers.

Navigate from broad topics like Justice, Truth, and Beauty down to specific subtopics, and discover curated passages from primary sources that have shaped our understanding of these ideas across the centuries.

A syntopicon (from Greek syn- "together" + topos "place") is an index of ideas rather than words. It brings together passages from different works and authors that discuss the same topic, enabling readers to trace how great ideas have evolved across time and cultures.

The original Syntopicon was created by Mortimer J. Adler as part of the Great Books of the Western World project, organizing 102 "Great Ideas" with 2,987 topics and subtopics across 443 works by 74 authors.

This project honors Mortimer Jerome Adler (1902-2001), philosopher, educator, and champion of liberal education. Adler believed that the great books and great ideas were not relics of the past, but living conversations that every person could and should join.

His vision was democratic: that ordinary readers, with the right tools and guidance, could engage directly with the most profound ideas in human history. The Syntopicon was his gift to make that vision real.

"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you."

This digital Mortimer continues his mission, making the great ideas accessible to a new generation of readers.