Never judge a book by its cover or by its table of content

Extending the Table of Contents in the book "Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide" by Edward Feser

Edward Feser book “Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides)” (link - not affiliated) is outstanding.

I am quite impressed by:

1. his deep knowledge of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle philosophy,

2. his effort to explain it to a modern audience and

3. his attention to refuting the main objections to these 2 giants.

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When I first looked into the Table of Contents, I was far from impressed, I was not expecting.

But how wrong I was!

Never judge a book by its cover or by its table of content.

Edward Feser didactically covers the main topics of Thomistic philosophy and carefully untangles the primary objections posed by modern authors. While reading, I took notes on the main topics for later reference and created an extended Table of Contents, which I am sharing with you now.

Extended Table of Contents for "Aquinas: A Beginner's Guide"

1. St. Thomas; 12

2. Metaphysics; 19

   1. Act and Potency; 19

      1. Parmenides impossible change; 19

      2. Aristotle “reply” to Parmenides. Act, Potency and Motion; 21

      3. Further analysis:

         1. 1st; potentiality is not in all senses, 22

         2. 2nd; potency needs something in act to actualize, 22

            1. A quick overview of self-mover problem (dog example)

         3. 3rd; the asymmetry; 22

            1. Act is prior to potency

   2. Hylomorphism; 23

      1. Introduction; 23

      2. Not a reductionistic approach; 26

      3. Form is not as in Plato; 26

   3. The four cause; 27

      1. Introduction; 28

      2. The agent; 30

      3. Form is prior to matter; 30

      4. Final cause importance; 30

      5. Exploring Hume errors; 31

   4. Essence and existence; 36

      1. Introduction; 36

      2. Analyzing the current essentialism and comparing to Aristotle and Aquinas view; 37

      3. Conceptualist of Locke; 38

      4. Universals; 38

      5. Angels; 41

      6. Essence and existence distinction; 42

   5. The Transcendentals; 45

      1. Introduction; 45

      2. Being; 45

      3. Being is the transcendental; 45

      4. Being as truth; 47

      5. Being as good; 48

         1. Evil as absence of good; 49

   6. Final causality; 49

      1. Conflict with modern science; 49

      2. Moliere’s Joke'; 51

      3. Empiricism; 52

      4. Modern Science and metaphysics; 53

      5. The consequences mechanistic denial of final causes; 55

      6. Darwinian evolution against final causality; 59

      7. Genetics and final causality; 60

      8. The modern problem with basic understanding and laws of physics with causality and substance; 63

   7. Efficient Causality; 66

      1. Introduction; 66

      2. Evolution argument; 67

      3. Hume argument; 68

      4. Quantum argument; 70

   8. Being; 71

      1. Introduction; 71

      2. Fregean notion; 71

      3. Kenny objection; 72

      4. Kenny objection on angels; 76

      5. Aquinas’s Aristotelian, not platonic, realism; 76

3. Natural Theology; 79

   1. Introduction to the five ways; 79

   2. The Five Ways to prove the existence of God; 82

      1. The First Way; 82

         1. Introduction; 82

         2. First Mover is not bible’s God objection; 83

         3. The objection of mover having to have what is moved formally; 85

         4. The infinite series objection; 86

         5. Kenny objections and the “Pure Act” argument; 91

         6. The moving mover objection; 97

      2. The Second Way; 99

         1. Introduction; 99

         2. Stock objection; 100

         3. Kant objection; 101

         4. Difference from first way; 102

         5. Essence and existence; 103

            1. Willian Craig objection; 105

         6. Hume objections; 108

         7. Fallacy of composition objection; 108

      3. The Third Way; 109

         1. Introduction; 109

         2. The possible time objection; 111

         3. Second objection; 113

         4. The second part, the causality and necessity; 115

         5. Essence and Existence distinction; 118

      4. The Fourth Way; 119

         1. Introduction; 119

         2. Modern difficulties; 120

         3. Platonic claim; 120

         4. Multiple gods objection; 124

         5. The science of Aquinas times is not an impediment; 125

         6. Convertibility of the Transcendental; 127

      5. The Fifth Way; 131

         1. Introduction; 131

         2. Comparing to design argument; 131

         3. The relation to the final cause; 134

            1. Not everything has a final cause, but every agent has; 136

   3. The divine attributes; 142

      1. The uniqueness (oneness); 142

      2. Overview of other attributes; 144

      3. The immateriality; 145

      4. The intellect; 146

      5. The will; 146

      6. The perfection; 147

      7. The problem of evil; 148

      8. Simplicity; 149

         1. Frege’s example; 151

         2. Stump / Euthyphro dilemma; 152

4. Psychology; 155

   1. Philosophy of the mind; 155

   2. The soul; 156

      1. Not the ghost; 157

      2. Aquinas on anima; 158

      3. The machine comparison; 160

      4. Plant’s soul; 162

      5. Ensoulment; 163

   3. Intellect and will; 167

      1. Introduction; 167

      2. The nature of the intellect; 168

      3. Senses, Imagination; 169

      4. Intellect; 172

      5. Forms; 172

   4. Immateriality and Immortality; 177

   5. Hylomorphic dualism; 189

      1. Comparing to cartesian; 189

      2. Property dualism; 191

      3. Aquinas way; 192

      4. Advantages of hylomorphic dualism; 195

      5. Functionalism; 199

5. Ethics; 203

   1. The good; 204

      1. The three categories of good; 210

      2. Voluntarism; 213

   2. Natural law; 213

   3. Religion and morality; 218