Don’t Fire the Western Canon

I hope I shall not seem unduly chauvinistic in claiming the su­periority of the Western canon, when I think myself merely duly chauvinistic in doing so. I do not know enough about Chinese or Indian or Islamic culture to argue that they pale beside the Western canon, but I do know that the Western canon, comprising the great works of literature, history, and philosophy produced in the West over centuries, is immensely rich, and has provided me with intellectual sustenance over a long lifetime without my coming anywhere near exhausting it.