Thinking Clearly: Catholic Philosophy for a Culture in Chaos

by John-Mark L Miravalle

As baptized Christians, we are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. But that has become increasingly difficult in today's post-Christian culture, which has largely rejected God and Christian beliefs. This is the primary field where most of us are called to sow and harvest for the kingdom, and a culture antithetical to Christianity requires a different approach. Philosophy provides some common ground with the modern world as well as tools to think rationally about who we are and what we were made for.



Thinking Clearly is your introduction to philosophy in the Catholic tradition and a guide to having difficult conversations about faith, morality, the human person, and more, using natural human insights.



Philosophy is the study of what can be known by universal experience, so the ground from which philosophy starts is as common as you can get. Once you initiate a philosophical discussion, though, it's up to you to show how that discussion can end up at God. Ultimately, that's where good philosophy leads, and this book will help you get started.

126 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 19, 2023

Reviews

[Mary O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. This book breaks philosophy down to a level that is much more user-friendly for a simple brain like mine without dumbing it down, if that makes sense. And, to quote the book, “Everything God has shown us, through the gift of reason and the gift of faith, fits together.” That sentence right there is one of the reasons I am so filled with fire about my faith.

Sections include: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Logic, and Ethics. Each of those sections end with a chapter that shows how these are connected to God: “God:the Ultimate Explanation”; “God: Keeping Our Knowledge Reliable”; “God: the Infinite, Perfect Being”; and “God: the Source of Our Moral Convictions.”

I challenge anyone who thinks they are (or desires to be) intellectually honest to read this book.

[Larkin H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miravalle is a Catholic philosopher and theologian so his beliefs should not surprise anyone. What is unique is that he centers his support for Christian doctrine in what could be called secular philosophy. Aristotle and Jesus are probably mentioned an equal number of times in the book.

This is quite a short book so he is forced to jump around often between philosophical terms and theories. I found a lot of the arguments to be somewhat simplistic but he introduces a lot of what must be in a 101-level course on the philosophy of Christianity so I imagine that a seminar on these topics with Prof. Miravalle would be very interesting.

[Jennifer]

Not for me. Apparently I prefer not thinking clearly 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

[Lingui5t · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! An excellent introduction, in that it actually makes you want to delve further into the topics. I really enjoyed it—the way the author explains things is very clear and effective.