My Favorite Book of the Year (Plus Some Honorable Mentions)
My favorite book of the year is... drumroll, please... duh, duh, duh!
My favorite book of the year—or technically last year, I guess—is one that all readers of this blog should easily profit from: Michael Gorman’s A Contemporary Introduction to Thomistic Metaphsyics. I’ve chosen this book because it beautifully balances accessibility and rigor, showing just how theoretically fruitful the Thomistic metaphysical system is for resolving a host of issues—whether with respect to mereology, modality, or morality. To my mind, it’s the best introduction to the topic available today and has more of an analytic bent (which I naturally gravitate toward) than much of what’s been written on the subject before.
Just get it, already.
Now, for some honorable mentions.
A close runner-up to Gorman’s book is Ross Inman’s What Is Reality, which also defends a broadly Aristotelian metaphysic. Many of the same topics are addressed in both books, but the authors are unique enough in their presentation and argumentation that I’d highly recommend reading both—even concurrently. My only real issue with Inman’s book is that I believe he gets the theory of existence question wrong by too quickly dismissing the property theory of existence. He raises the usual objections, all of which, in my estimation, have not only been adequately dealt with (Everyone say it with me now: existence is a first-level property of concrete individuals!1). but especially so by Barry Miller (whose absence from the book’s references is a real shame, given that he wrote one of the best books on existence out there). That said, What Is Reality is still a fantastic read.
And if you’re looking for something even meatier (and decidedly more technical), Inman’s Substance and the Fundamentality of the Familiar is another personal favorite of mine.
OK, moving on.
I must also highly recommend Joshua Sijuwade’s Analytic Theism. This book is a behemoth—not for the faint of heart or the fragile by nature—but it absolutely deserves praise for its impressive (to say the least) depth and rigor across a massive range of subjects. (He offers an excellent defense of essentialism, I should note.) Sijuwade’s approach to God is both unique and provocative, making the case that the God of classical theism is the best—and most relevantly simple—explanation for a fascinating array of not-your-usual data (which Sijuwade compellingly defends as data), including categories and essences, personal freedom, and even the wave function (Yes, Sijuwade is a “wave function realist”—hey, somebody put that on a t-shirt!)
Next, I want to recommend Tom Ward’s After Stoicism. This book was practically destined (pre-destined? Perhaps. Boethius can help with that!) to delight me, given my long-standing admiration for Boethius. Longtime followers of my podcast will know that I recommend The Consolation probably too much. (What can I say? It’s that good.) You certainly wouldn’t go wrong pairing Ward’s book with Boethius himself.
Finally, though I haven’t finished Edward Feser’s Immortal Souls yet, I feel confident recommending it based on the sizeable chunk I’ve already worked through. Sure, some material will feel familiar to readers of Feser’s other works (especially Scholastic Metaphysics and Aristotle’s Revenge), but there’s enough fresh content—and some solid further development of prior ideas (like his defense of James Ross’s argument for the immateriality of the intellect from the indeterminacy of the physical; probably my favorite section, so far)—to make it absolutely worth the investment.
OK, I’ll stop here—no need for a massive reading list.
Actually—wait, one more.
Dracula. I hadn’t read this book before, but for some reason (probably after I saw the trailer for Nosferatu?), I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. So, if you’re just looking for something fun and don’t mind an epistolary novel, give it a shot.
P.S. Favorite things I wrote this year? So glad you didn’t ask! Academically, my Millerian Cosmological Argument is what I’m most proud of—though my An Anti-Atheological Argument from Suffering article with Jim Madden is a close second. On the popular level, I released a new fitness book just last month called Strong ON! It’s super simple (fitness is a lot easier than metaphysics—or at least, I think), but the feedback has been very positive so far, which is always nice. And of course, there’s The Best Argument for God—have I ever mentioned that one before? ; )
And non-existence, in case you’re worrying, is a mere Cambridge property.