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How to Think Like Aquinas: The Sure Way to Perfect Your Mental Powers
In this book, you'll learn St. Thomas Aquinas's unique powers of intellect and will, and how he can train us to perfect them. The bestselling author of The One-Minute Aquinas offers here a fully guided tutorial of exercises to perfect your intellectual powers of memory, understanding, logical reasoning, shrewdness, foresight, circumspection, practical wisdom, and so much more that lead to happier and holier lives. You'll also
- The connections between thinking, happiness, and holiness
- How to perfect intellectual powers you may not know you possess
- Why a failure to understand human nature impairs our ability to understand anything
- The three fundamental acts of practical wisdom
- How to spot twenty common logical fallacies
- And much more
- The connections between thinking, happiness, and holiness
- How to perfect intellectual powers you may not know you possess
- Why a failure to understand human nature impairs our ability to understand anything
- The three fundamental acts of practical wisdom
- How to spot twenty common logical fallacies
- And much more
Audible Audio
First published January 1, 2018
118 people are currently reading
204 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Vost
39 books52 followersKevin Vost, Psy. D. (b. 1961) has taught psychology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Lincoln Land Community College, and MacMurray College. He is a Research Review Committee Member for American Mensa, which promotes the scientific study of human intelligence.
He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.
He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 19, 2018
I have been a fan of Dr. Kevin Vost's writings since first encountering them in 2006. That was the year he published his first Catholic book, since that time he has published 18 works, covering a wide range of topics. But one he comes back to often is memorization. And in this new book he uses the tools of Saint Thomas Aquinas to help us learn how to build a memory palace, and to use the powers of the intellect and the will and to train both. The introduction begins with this statement:
"We should all strive to think more like Aquinas, but only if we desire to know what is true, to love what is good, to grow in happiness and holiness while wayfarers on earth, and ultimately to share in eternal beatitude with God and the communion of saints when we arrive home in heaven. You see, in all of human history, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was among the very best guides to fulfilling these desires. Dozens of popes have sung his praises as philosopher and theologian, the Catechism of the Catholic Church abounds in references to his writings, and even secular scholars have acknowledged his monumental contribution to the field of philosophy.2 They praise him foremost for what G. K. Chesterton called in his biography of Thomas "that unusual human hobby: the habit of thinking.""
I raced through this book the first time I read it. I could hardly put it down. I am now working through it a second time, this time taking my time. And really working through the exercises and suggested practices to apply the skills and truths taught. The description of the book is:
"In these pages, you'll learn St. Thomas Aquinas's unique powers of intellect and will, and how he can train us to perfect them. Best-selling author of The One-Minutea Aquinas offers here a fully guided, illustrated tutorial of exercises to perfect your intellectual powers of memory, understanding, logical reasoning, shrewdness, foresight, circumspection, practical wisdom, and so much more that lead to happier and holier lives. You'll also learn:
The connections between thinking, happiness, and holiness
How to perfect intellectual powers you may not now you possess
Why a failure to understand human nature impairs our ability to understand anything
The three fundamental acts of practical wisdom
The eight parts of prudence every Catholic should keep in stock
How training our memories can make us deeper thinkers
How critical thinking alone is insufficient for reaching the truth
Why Catholics should cherish reason as well as faith and know how to use it!
How to spot twenty common logical fallacies
How thinking like Aquinas can inoculate you from twenty damaging isms and worldviews wreaking havoc in our world today."
In many ways this book is the culmination of Dr. Vost's earlier works. It ties together themes from many of his works and ties them together in a practical and applicable way. Even though Vost is a brilliant man and scholar he writes in such a way that the general public can engage and benefit from reading this book. The sections in the book are:
Introduction: Why You Should Think Like Aquinas (and How)
Part 1
Navigating the Small Streams of Knowledge
1. Speak Slowly and Carry a Big Heart and Mind
2. The Power of Pure Prayer
3. From the Cell to the Wine Cellar: On Crafting a Study Space You Can Love
4. The Benefits and Perils of Friendliness to Study
5. Set Your Intellect Free by Avoiding Worldly Entanglements
6. The Imitation of Christ (and of Those Who Imitate Him)
7. Loving Truth Regardless of Its Source (and On the Perfection of Memory)
8. How to Read Any Book: On the Power of Understanding
9. Filling Your Mental Cupboard to the Brim: On Building a Knowledge Base
10. Knowing Your Mental Powers - and Their Limits
Conclusion to Part 1
Part 2
Fathoming the Depths of Wisdom
Prologue to Part 2
11. Reason Gone Wrong
12. Premises of Sand
13. Wrong Thinking about the Faith
14. Mnemonic Master Table
About the Author
Bibliography
Each chapter in part one of the book ends with a section called Doctor's order, a sort of prescription for learning the lesson of that specific chapter, and tool to help lock the teaching in. These Doctor's orders are broken into three sections, Reflect, Read, and Remember. The Reflect section is to help you apply what you have learned. The Read section is some examples of how to take the lesson further. And the Remember section will help you sink in the lesson. And Chapter 14 provides a Mnemonic Master Table of all we have learned in Part 2 of the book.
When reading books by Kevin Vost I realise how much more I have to learn. And each of his books has served as a guide along that path. I believe this book is his best to date. I do not know any Christian who would not benefit from reading this book. And I look forward to when my children are a few years older and I can share this book with them, and that is the highest praise I can give a book. This book is an excellent read by an amazing author.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Kevin Vost. As well as an author profile and interview with Dr. Vost.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2018 Catholic Reading Plan!
"We should all strive to think more like Aquinas, but only if we desire to know what is true, to love what is good, to grow in happiness and holiness while wayfarers on earth, and ultimately to share in eternal beatitude with God and the communion of saints when we arrive home in heaven. You see, in all of human history, St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was among the very best guides to fulfilling these desires. Dozens of popes have sung his praises as philosopher and theologian, the Catechism of the Catholic Church abounds in references to his writings, and even secular scholars have acknowledged his monumental contribution to the field of philosophy.2 They praise him foremost for what G. K. Chesterton called in his biography of Thomas "that unusual human hobby: the habit of thinking.""
I raced through this book the first time I read it. I could hardly put it down. I am now working through it a second time, this time taking my time. And really working through the exercises and suggested practices to apply the skills and truths taught. The description of the book is:
"In these pages, you'll learn St. Thomas Aquinas's unique powers of intellect and will, and how he can train us to perfect them. Best-selling author of The One-Minutea Aquinas offers here a fully guided, illustrated tutorial of exercises to perfect your intellectual powers of memory, understanding, logical reasoning, shrewdness, foresight, circumspection, practical wisdom, and so much more that lead to happier and holier lives. You'll also learn:
The connections between thinking, happiness, and holiness
How to perfect intellectual powers you may not now you possess
Why a failure to understand human nature impairs our ability to understand anything
The three fundamental acts of practical wisdom
The eight parts of prudence every Catholic should keep in stock
How training our memories can make us deeper thinkers
How critical thinking alone is insufficient for reaching the truth
Why Catholics should cherish reason as well as faith and know how to use it!
How to spot twenty common logical fallacies
How thinking like Aquinas can inoculate you from twenty damaging isms and worldviews wreaking havoc in our world today."
In many ways this book is the culmination of Dr. Vost's earlier works. It ties together themes from many of his works and ties them together in a practical and applicable way. Even though Vost is a brilliant man and scholar he writes in such a way that the general public can engage and benefit from reading this book. The sections in the book are:
Introduction: Why You Should Think Like Aquinas (and How)
Part 1
Navigating the Small Streams of Knowledge
1. Speak Slowly and Carry a Big Heart and Mind
2. The Power of Pure Prayer
3. From the Cell to the Wine Cellar: On Crafting a Study Space You Can Love
4. The Benefits and Perils of Friendliness to Study
5. Set Your Intellect Free by Avoiding Worldly Entanglements
6. The Imitation of Christ (and of Those Who Imitate Him)
7. Loving Truth Regardless of Its Source (and On the Perfection of Memory)
8. How to Read Any Book: On the Power of Understanding
9. Filling Your Mental Cupboard to the Brim: On Building a Knowledge Base
10. Knowing Your Mental Powers - and Their Limits
Conclusion to Part 1
Part 2
Fathoming the Depths of Wisdom
Prologue to Part 2
11. Reason Gone Wrong
12. Premises of Sand
13. Wrong Thinking about the Faith
14. Mnemonic Master Table
About the Author
Bibliography
Each chapter in part one of the book ends with a section called Doctor's order, a sort of prescription for learning the lesson of that specific chapter, and tool to help lock the teaching in. These Doctor's orders are broken into three sections, Reflect, Read, and Remember. The Reflect section is to help you apply what you have learned. The Read section is some examples of how to take the lesson further. And the Remember section will help you sink in the lesson. And Chapter 14 provides a Mnemonic Master Table of all we have learned in Part 2 of the book.
When reading books by Kevin Vost I realise how much more I have to learn. And each of his books has served as a guide along that path. I believe this book is his best to date. I do not know any Christian who would not benefit from reading this book. And I look forward to when my children are a few years older and I can share this book with them, and that is the highest praise I can give a book. This book is an excellent read by an amazing author.
Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Kevin Vost. As well as an author profile and interview with Dr. Vost.
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2018 Catholic Reading Plan!
December 29, 2024
First half of this book is practical and enjoyable to read. Second half feels more like a quizlet flash card game, which are fun by themselves, but not in a book.
March 11, 2021
If procuring your mental powers necessitates the construction of a series of mnemonic images,
then this book is for you. In my case, it’s far too strenuous to devise elaborate mental images in
order to recall the main points of Aquinas’s philosophy; I’ll just look them up in this handy
book!
The author does a thorough job of covering Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy. My memory of
lessons learned over the years was reinforced by reviewing the wisdom in the saint’s advice. Not
a bad book for future reference.
then this book is for you. In my case, it’s far too strenuous to devise elaborate mental images in
order to recall the main points of Aquinas’s philosophy; I’ll just look them up in this handy
book!
The author does a thorough job of covering Thomas Aquinas’s philosophy. My memory of
lessons learned over the years was reinforced by reviewing the wisdom in the saint’s advice. Not
a bad book for future reference.
December 30, 2024
This was out for a great start, but I was a bit set back by the big "anticipation" for the memory part of the book that the author tried to hint at, and for his part - as of the book, it was probably the right thing to do - but for my part - it was a bit meh. I do not like to sit down and make "rooms" and "maps" for everything I need to remember, I do not buy into that, even if I think memory is important. The second part is good on its own, without the memory part, but is a bit out of touch with the rest of the book. It also ends with a slight fallacy on itself, as Vost uses them to take a pinch at Protestantism via "Sola Scriptura", putting too much weight into it as it is not as central in the way he suggests here. It does not mean that we should look away from tradition or the Catholic Church. Or, maybe it initially meant that, but a big majority, I would guess, of protestants, do not think that.
Anyway, I appreciate some of the old information and some of the new about Aquinas and his thinking what we can learn, and how we can think like him. Another thing I noticed is that Vost sometimes mixes up the act of thinking and the conclusions - even if they tend to end up the same, reading the answer given by Aquinas as a final answer sometimes, as in confusing the thinking with the thought, he misses a bit of the mark even if I get what he wants to say.
A good book that I recommend for the first part, and for a refresh on some fallacies and isms in the second part. Also bonus: Ayn Rand mentioned!
Anyway, I appreciate some of the old information and some of the new about Aquinas and his thinking what we can learn, and how we can think like him. Another thing I noticed is that Vost sometimes mixes up the act of thinking and the conclusions - even if they tend to end up the same, reading the answer given by Aquinas as a final answer sometimes, as in confusing the thinking with the thought, he misses a bit of the mark even if I get what he wants to say.
A good book that I recommend for the first part, and for a refresh on some fallacies and isms in the second part. Also bonus: Ayn Rand mentioned!
April 17, 2021
This was a quarantine read for me and a good one too.
My thoughts on the book are:
1. Vost opens with a letter attributed to Aquinas that he wrote on how to be a good student. Basically the analogy is that of a river and the delta. The best place to start is at the spring of the river, when the river is still small like a stream. If someone were to go to the delta they would be overwhelmed. The saying, "don't bite off more than you can chew" holds true in learning as well. Aquinas is urging the person he is writing too to start with the smaller things, the fundamentals, and take on more and more like walking downstream to where rivers meet together and grow larger.
2. An exceptional gift of Vost is his ability to present Aquinas to modern day times. Vost encourages the reader to listen to uplifting, instrumental music. He recommends Anton Bruckner and since this I have listened to Bruckner quite a bit.
3. A big take-away for me was focusing on learning truth. Often in life we want to find truth in the way we want to find truth; so we block out certain people or certain learning methods. Vost challenges the reader to be like Aquinas and focus on learning truth and being open to learning truth.
4. The section on the fallacies is exceptionally well done. I recommend reading the fallacies in this book.
5. There is another section on heresies or ism that is worth reading (scientism, materialism, relativism, etc). This is a very well written section.
My thoughts on the book are:
1. Vost opens with a letter attributed to Aquinas that he wrote on how to be a good student. Basically the analogy is that of a river and the delta. The best place to start is at the spring of the river, when the river is still small like a stream. If someone were to go to the delta they would be overwhelmed. The saying, "don't bite off more than you can chew" holds true in learning as well. Aquinas is urging the person he is writing too to start with the smaller things, the fundamentals, and take on more and more like walking downstream to where rivers meet together and grow larger.
2. An exceptional gift of Vost is his ability to present Aquinas to modern day times. Vost encourages the reader to listen to uplifting, instrumental music. He recommends Anton Bruckner and since this I have listened to Bruckner quite a bit.
3. A big take-away for me was focusing on learning truth. Often in life we want to find truth in the way we want to find truth; so we block out certain people or certain learning methods. Vost challenges the reader to be like Aquinas and focus on learning truth and being open to learning truth.
4. The section on the fallacies is exceptionally well done. I recommend reading the fallacies in this book.
5. There is another section on heresies or ism that is worth reading (scientism, materialism, relativism, etc). This is a very well written section.
March 8, 2019
Tome usted a una de las más poderosas mentes de la historia y fabrique un método que intente capacitar a las personas para acercarse a cómo razonaba Tomás de Aquino. El autor hizo eso precisamente. Escribió una especie de manual o instructivo que promete al lector mejorar su sistema de razonamiento. La primera parte y mayor de las dos, instruye desde lo simple a lo complejo acerca de ese método y no lo hace mal (excepto por un lenguaje coloquial que pretende caer bien y acaba por desesperar). La segunda parte, mucho menor, está dedicada a falacias y teorías débiles que engañan a la razón, lo que constituye un aprendizaje práctico considerable.
Contiene buenas ideas, razonables reflexiones, consejos útiles, trucos de memoria y demás elementos para aprender a razonar al estilo de Santo Tomás y eso incluye a la oración y al reconocimiento de Dios (lo que contrariará a los agnósticos y ateos). En fin, un pequeño libro con ideas provechosas cuyo estilo de exposición cansa.
Contiene buenas ideas, razonables reflexiones, consejos útiles, trucos de memoria y demás elementos para aprender a razonar al estilo de Santo Tomás y eso incluye a la oración y al reconocimiento de Dios (lo que contrariará a los agnósticos y ateos). En fin, un pequeño libro con ideas provechosas cuyo estilo de exposición cansa.
February 23, 2020
As always this author does not fail to disappoint. He presents a good balance between abstract philosophical concepts and expands on the practical aspects of St. Thomas Aquinas' letter to a brother religious. In our time of poor intellectual formation and moral deformation, where it seems like we have broken our minds and cast off rationality and made too many false dichotomies, it is refreshing to have a book like this one to simultaneously show us the way to think well while protecting us from intellectual errors that will inevitably veer us off the path and make us enemies of the truth. If I had to propose a handful of books to a beginner on the way of learning sound thinking, I would consider this as essential.
June 11, 2019
part history, part information management and part biography
Rare insight into the way Thomas Aquinas does his thinking. The author focuses on the things Aquinas and his cohort have written about how to approach, organise and study information.
This book is part history, part information management and part biography.
Seeing as its got a bit of religion and a bit of prayer (Well, Thomas was a monk) it’s got everything I like.
Rare insight into the way Thomas Aquinas does his thinking. The author focuses on the things Aquinas and his cohort have written about how to approach, organise and study information.
This book is part history, part information management and part biography.
Seeing as its got a bit of religion and a bit of prayer (Well, Thomas was a monk) it’s got everything I like.
November 24, 2021
A in-depth overview of what it means to be a Thomist
Dr. Vost’s love and commitment to the teachings of St Thomas Aquinas are evident on every page of this book. The veracity of Aquinas’s thoughts and body of work are laid out clearly and in a simple, straightforward manner, engendering understanding in the reader’s mind.
Dr. Vost’s love and commitment to the teachings of St Thomas Aquinas are evident on every page of this book. The veracity of Aquinas’s thoughts and body of work are laid out clearly and in a simple, straightforward manner, engendering understanding in the reader’s mind.
March 3, 2023
Saint Thomas Aquinas led a Faith-Filled Catholic Life. The numerous Tales he shared with others, is Uplifting.
It’s Not Easy being a Catholic…this Book makes us Better Understand how to Discipline ourselves, to Lead a More fruitful Life.
It’s Not Easy being a Catholic…this Book makes us Better Understand how to Discipline ourselves, to Lead a More fruitful Life.
November 27, 2019
Excellently organized guide to emulating St. Thomas Aquinas in using your reason, and interacting with the world.
January 5, 2020
Delightful book with great memory tips at the end.
Read
December 6, 2024“…to think like Aquinas is to strive to live out the truth we seek, in imitation of the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)”, p. 10
December 15, 2024
Mid. Good content on how to think well and study well. Didn’t find it incredibly insightful but was interesting. I would probably never recommend this book to anyone lol it’s too niche.
April 3, 2025
great read
A very interesting and insightful piece! Learning to keep God as the foundation of study elevated my understanding and faith.
A very interesting and insightful piece! Learning to keep God as the foundation of study elevated my understanding and faith.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews