The Basement Thomist

One idiot's journey into the rich world of Catholic thought.

Study Plan

This page will serve as my roadmap for my self-directed study. I intend to mostly focus on philosophy, theology, and history (pertaining to the Catholic Church and Western Civilization more broadly). I will also include notes on Latin as I learn the language and continue my study through Veterum Sapientia Insitute.

This is my own formulation, and as this is the beginning of my journey, any reader should know that I am currently an idiot, though I hope to become less so over time.

Road Map

  • Foundational
    • Introductory Philosophy
      • Introduction to Philosophy by Jacques Maritain
      • The Unity of Philosophical Experience by Etienne Gilson
    • Logic
      • Socratic Logic by Peter Kreeft
      • A Brief Text-Book of Logic and Mental Philosophy by Rev. Charles Coppens, S.J.
    • Theology
      • Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Ludwig Ott
      • Introduction to Moral Theology by Fr Romanus Cessario
      • Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church
      • Theology for Beginners by Frank Sheed
    • Latin
      • Lingua Latina per se Illustrata by Hans Ørberg
      • English Grammar for Students of Latin by Norma W. Goldman
      • Lingua Latina: A Companion to Lingua Latina per se Illustrata by Jeanne Marie Neumann
  • Phase I
    • Apology by Plato
    • Phaedo by Plato
    • Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
    • Metaphysics by Aristotle
    • Confessions by St. Augustine
    • De Doctrina Christiana by St. Augustine
    • Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius
    • Proslogion by St. Anselm
  • Phase II
    • Organon by Aristotle
    • Republic by Plato
    • Oration by Gregory of Nazianzus
    • Summa Theologiae (Book I) by St. Thomas Aquinas
    • Fides et Ratio by St. John Paul II
  • Phase III
    • Summa Contra Gentiles by St. Thomas Aquinas
    • Verbum by Bernard Lonergan
    • The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
    • Iliad by Homer

External Reading Lists