{"id":153245,"date":"2021-08-31T09:30:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-31T13:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-any-advice-on-studying-philosophy\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:03:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:03:03","slug":"ask-a-priest-any-advice-on-studying-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-any-advice-on-studying-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Ask a Priest: Any Advice on Studying Philosophy?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<address>Q: I am a freshman in college interested in studying philosophy. Do you have any recommendations in choosing classes or studying it in general? I know that some famous philosophers are in direct opposition to Catholicism, and I do not want to endanger my faith. \u2013 N.P.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A: It&#8217;s good that you are already on guard against works that could undercut your faith.<\/p>\n<p>I will only offer general advice, since I don&#8217;t know the professors you would have.<\/p>\n<p>If you are starting out in philosophy, it&#8217;s good to avoid exposing yourself immediately to philosophers who promote an atheistic or materialistic way of thinking. Some students unfortunately dive right into Nietzsche as their introduction to philosophy.<\/p>\n<p>An alternative would be to pursue a two-track system.<\/p>\n<p>First, start at the beginning. Study the ancient philosophers, especially Plato and Aristotle. The early great philosophers focused on bedrock questions, such as the nature of being; epistemology; logic, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Second, if possible, you might want to start looking at the most important Christian thinkers such as St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, and St. Thomas Aquinas.<\/p>\n<p>Aquinas&#8217; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newadvent.org\/summa\/\">Summa Theologiae<\/a>\u00a0is one of the world&#8217;s greatest intellectual masterworks. It is also highly pedagogical &#8212; you can learn to think more clearly just by reading it. The Thomistic Institute offers a free <a href=\"https:\/\/aquinas101.thomisticinstitute.org\/\">online course<\/a> on Aquinas.<\/p>\n<p>Another hint: Philosophical writings can be a bit overwhelming at first, so it might be good to supplement your reading with more-accessible material.<\/p>\n<p>One helpful writer is Peter Kreeft. His <a href=\"https:\/\/www.peterkreeft.com\/\">website<\/a> lists his many books (including a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Summa-Thomas-Aquinas\/dp\/089870300X\">summary<\/a> of Aquinas&#8217; Summa) and contains a lot of helpful materials on various topics.<\/p>\n<p>Also handy is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Ten-Philosophical-Mistakes-Mortimer-Adler\/dp\/068481868X\"><em>Ten Philosophical Mistakes<\/em><\/a><em>,<\/em> by Mortimer Alder.<\/p>\n<p>Only after you get well-grounded in the ancients and in the thought of St. Thomas would it be advisable to tackle the modern philosophers.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the moderns&#8217; insights are valuable, but some are deeply flawed. You want to have a solid background in good philosophy before you read the dicey stuff. Forewarned is forearmed.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 1.125rem;\">Keep learning more with <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 1.125rem;\" href=\"https:\/\/rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com\/ask-a-priest\/\">Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n<p>Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&amp;A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question <a href=\"https:\/\/rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com\/ask-a-priest-question\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a>\u00a0and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q: I am a freshman in college interested in studying philosophy. Do you have any recommendations in choosing classes or studying it in general? 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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith &amp; Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153245"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}