Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides) Kindle Edition

An excellent introduction to Thomism. Feser's familiarity with modern analytical philosophy allows him to respond to the most common, and probably the best objections, raised against Thomistic metaphysics and Thomism in general.

An important caution: this is not a "beginner's guide" in the sense that it is for those who have absolutely no prior exposure to philosophy or rigorous argument. I can say this because, prior to this book, I myself had no prior exposure to philosophy or rigorous argument. I had many questions and had to get answers elsewhere. This is no fault of Feser; my questions did not have to do with the validity of his reasoning or the clarity of his terms – I simply was not well acquainted with philosophy, having never even taking philosophy 101 in college. For anyone else who is in my position, you are in luck! Feser runs an excellent blog at edwardfeser.blogspot.com. I picked up a habit of googling "Edward Feser [insert topic of confusion]" and it's allowed to me better grasp the content of this book.

The chapter on metaphysics is difficult but critical and it sets up the rest of the book. If you're not getting it, moving on is, in my humble opinion, futile. Once you do get it, however, the rest of the book will not be as difficult.

For atheists, the chapter on Natural Theology will be of most interest. Again, if you are unfamiliar with Aristotletian or Thomistic metaphysics, you won't do yourself any favors by jumping into the chapter on Natural Theology. This isn't pop philosophy a la Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, or Dennett; you have to actually do intellectual work to meet Aquinas and Thomism halfway. If you do do this work, this chapter just may change your life (who needs self-help books when you have a disciplined pursuit of Truth?). Feser goes through Aquinas' 5 Ways to proving the existence of God and defends them rather exhaustively against various objections.

The remaining two chapters, on Psychology and on Ethics, are also excellent. The section on natural law, while short, is deep.

My only criticism of the book is that I wish Feser dwelt more on the objections of many naturalist philosophers to the claim that biological inquiry rests on a teleological foundation. I did not come away convinced by Feser's argument from this book, but after reading Feser's other work on teleology, I was convinced of Feser's argument. In the book, however, the section is too short.

My last comment is on the quality of writing. When I was an atheist, I thought nobody could write better than Christopher Hitchens (you can tell I am very well read). I was wrong. Edward Feser writes better than Christopher Hitchens. Far better. Not only that, unlike Hitchens, Feser isn't mostly flash; his arguments have bite and depth to them.

E. Feser's introduction to Aquinas' thought was exactly what I was looking for: a clear, contemporary introduction (and defense!) of Aquinas' thought which interacts with modern objections. Having read introductions by Ralph McInerny, Henri Renard, F. Copleston, Jacques Maritain, and A. Sertillanges, I can say that Feser's book is better than all of them.

First of all, Feser is faithful to Aquinas' thought. In content, Feser's philosophy is aligned with something, say, Garrigou-Lagrange might write, the difference only being style. If you think Garrigou-Lagrange understood Aquinas, then you will think Feser has, too. Most of the authors I mentioned above more or less understand Aquinas adequately, so far as I can tell. Like them, Feser won't give you any surprises by departing from the tradition (like, say, E. Stump might).

Second, Feser's book is better because it is clearer. There are plenty of thinkers who understand Aquinas decently enough---one thinks of Maritain or Renard, for example. But anyone who has tried to read these thinkers is painfully aware that their prose is not always clear. Feser has given us a book which is in a class by itself for clarity. If you are puzzled by 'matter', 'form', 'act', 'potency', and so on, then this is the book for you.

Third, Feser's book is better because it understands modern thinkers and their objections to Aquinas. Feser admirably defends the existence of God, the classical attributes of God (including divine simplicity), the immortality of the soul, Aquinas' ethical theory, and so on. Not only this, but he shows why objectors to Aquinas usually have not understood him properly. He treats older objectors like Locke, but also newer ones like Dawkins (and many analytical philosophers, too). It is especially its mastery of analytical philosophy and the issues it brings up which makes this book relevant to modern concerns.

Fourth, Feser has a list of recommended reading which is very, very useful.

And to top it all off, this book has one of the best discussions of causality, especially final causality, which I have encountered.

So, if you're shopping for one book to start with in studying Aquinas, you've found it. Or if you've read many introductions but still feel lost, this is the book for you, too. Feser brings the clarity of analytical philosophy, the relevance of modern issues, and the content of classical Thomism all together in this volume.