Finding Hope in Muddled Moral Times

Megan Cottam finds a renewed call to evangelization in The Postmodern Predicament by Bobby Angel. 

The Postmodern Predicament: And a Roadmap for Recovery and Restoration

By Bobby Angel
Publisher: Sophia Institute Press

Philosophy Made Accessible

After suffering through my philosophy classes in graduate school, I was immensely grateful to simply make it out alive. While the messaging and thought experiments of these philosophers were certainly foundational to understanding the world and its moral development and decline, the length and density of their work can be inaccessible at times. Enter Bobby Angel, here to save you with a far easier overview of these philosophers in his work, The Postmodern Predicament, recently published by Sophia Institute Press.

Angel is able to take the marrow of the major philosophies from Ancient to Postmodern periods, and make sense of the development of Truth in today’s society. It is an empathetic lens to view how society suffers from a lack of understanding of human dignity, from which we can then lay the foundation to create healing and change in our world. 

Bobby Angel, teacher of philosophy himself, tackles the question, “How did we get here and what do we do about it?” with precise and coherent evidence, as well as positive, practical solutions for the modern Catholic parent. In a readable 129 pages, he has the ability to cover thousands of years of philosophy using language that the non-philosopher can grasp and also see evidence of in the modern world. He emphasizes that the modern crisis of Truth centers on how society has distorted their view of human nature and the world around us.

Angel states profoundly that “proper social justice means putting ourselves in right order. It means developing healthy relationships with God and our fellow men.” When we deny the reality that humanity is made for anything other than God and how He made us, we find alternative meanings for life, such as power or utility, that never truly satisfy. He provides the clarity of thought that matches a vague unease resting in our hearts about the trajectory of the world. 

A Plan for Recovery for Society

The most valuable aspect of The Postmodern Predicament is the third part of the work, which lays out the “recovery” for society. This is an appeal to nonconformity crucial for any Catholic parent. Rather than sit in discontent, Bobby Angel gives a reason for hope when he states “I believe that underneath that jadedness and cynicism lies a desire to stumble upon something—anything—that can jar awake the human heart that aches for joy.”  He offers three concrete action steps for healing: to take a personalist approach with people, modeling and honoring their human dignity at the forefront of all we do, to embrace beauty and wonder as valuable, and to witness confidently to a Truth that can indeed be known. As philosophies come and go, the Truth of Christ remains, and it that reality the Catholic parent stands in hope.  

The Postmodern Predicament is the beginning of a needed Church conversation about how we as parents and families are to witness to a world starving for Truth, dignity, and purpose. I invite you to pick up this book, grab a few extra copies for your mom’s group or a parish study, and join me in a recommitment to witness to the beauty of our humanity. 

Ask for The Postmodern Predicament at your local Catholic bookseller, or order online from Amazon.com or the publisher, Sophia Institute Press.

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Copyright 2025 Megan Cottam
Images: Canva