Franciscan Studies

510BOOK REVIEWS A History of Philosophy. Revised edition. By B. A. G. Fuller. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1946. Pp. viii, 560. The author, a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California , has wrinen an easily readable work on the history of occidental Philosophy (including a short chapter concerning the Arabian and Jewish commentators on Aristotle), beginning with the Milesian School and concluding with Santayana's Neo-Realism. A large field has been covered within, comparatively speaking, the minimum of space, and, for the most part, it has been done with able and prudent selection. On the whole it seems that the author has covered every phase in the history of philosophy and every philosopher who has found a place in the current text books. But in spite of what the author states on page V of his preface, his style is at times flippant, but, I imagine, clear and certainly pleasing to the average college student. The general position of the author seems to be that of the modern rationalist who, however, displays a tolerance towards and an honest endeavor to be fair in his criticism of Christian thought and even towards Catholic doctrine. And yet, probably due to his evident lack of information, he does not always succeed. There is no need, it seems to us, to offer a criticism of this work. We differ essentially in our basic principles; moreover, as concerns his faithfulness to accurate historical presentation, we have noted too many inaccuracies to warrant our consideration. This is particularly true concerning his treatment of Christian philosophy. The author himself acknowleges (cfr. footnote , page 344) that he has no first hand information concerning Christian thinkers and has relied solely on secondary sources such as the works of De Wulf, Gilson and Ruggiero. And yet, even with the aid of these secondary sources, he has failed to record accurately the true teaching. This is probably due to the free manner and lack of understanding of the doctrine involved For example, among many incorrect statements we submit the following to the judgment of our readers with which, we trust, neither the students of Saint Thomas nor Saint Bonaventure would agree: "In the first place, he (St Thomas) encountered the ill-will of the mystics, then chiefly centered in the Franciscan order. Bonaventure, for example, must have felt his ecstatic ardors chilled by Aquina's assertion that hope for attaining the beatific vision in our earthly life is vain, and here and now we had better cultivate the virtues and the perfections realizable in our present estate and be content to postpone mystical consummation of the love of God till after death" (p. 406). These strange "ecstatic ardors" of Saint Bonaventure are certainly imaginary for no one would think of accusing the Seraphic Doctor of entertaining hope of the beatific vision in this life. It is true that he desired complete mystical union which, we might suggest, is different from the beatific vision. From these and similar passages it would appear that the author of this present work is not well versed in many Catholic things he has written about. Philothbus Boehner, O.F.M. Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure, New York. ...