Aquinas: A Beginner’s Guide
by Edward Feser
St. Thomas Aquinas is the Church's great teacher. Reading him cold can feel like walking into the middle of a medieval debate with no program. Edward Feser, a philosopher, wrote this guide for Oneworld's Beginner's Guides series to hand you the program and to defend the play.
Feser lays the foundation first: act and potency, form and matter, essence and existence. Then he takes on the famous Five Ways, Aquinas's arguments for God's existence, and shows how often they're misunderstood. From there he moves to the soul, ethics and natural law. His style is crisp and combative in the best sense. He clears away caricatures and shows why these old ideas still have teeth.
It suits philosophically minded inquirers, students, and anyone who has heard Aquinas name-dropped and wondered what the fuss was about. This is a philosophy book, not a devotional one, so expect to think hard. Patience pays off here.
Key Takeaways
- The basics of Aquinas's metaphysics: act, potency, form and matter.
- What the Five Ways really argue.
- Aquinas on the soul.
- Natural law ethics.
It makes the philosophy of St. Thomas accessible.
