On July 3, 1996, in Jones v. United States), the United States District Court for the Northern District of California held that plaintiffs in a wrongful birth action cannot recover costs or damages associated with the birth and upbringing of their daughter absent evidence of causation and proof to satisfy liability requirements. Plaintiffs scientific evidence regarding the alleged interaction between antibiotics and oral contraceptives did not satisfy the Daubertstandard, cert. denied,116 S. Ct. 189 )) for admissibility developed by the Supreme (...) Court. In addition, the plaintiffs failed to meet their burden of persuasion on duty of care and causation.On January 16, 1992, Karyn Jones went to a U.S. Army gynecologist, Dr. James Murphy, to obtain a prescription for birth control pills. (shrink)

Most of the twenty-nine essays in this volume have, in whole or in part, appeared elsewhere, either in journals and books or as addresses. They represent with reasonable adequacy the kind of philosophical interests pursued in this country and indicate that the interests are as diverse and varied as those that can be found anywhere else in the world today. Speculative as well as analytic philosophy is represented. This is not, in general, an 'I believe' anthology. Many of the essays (...) are philosophically substantial, although a few are mere summaries of views that the authors have presented in detail elsewhere. Because the volume's only source of unity is the nationality of the authors, it is to be recommended neither as a textbook nor as something to be digested in toto, but for those who can afford it, as a good browser. --C. L. (shrink)

This book forms part of a larger argument begun by Kenny in his The Aristotelian Ethics, and its importance can only be properly appreciated in the light of the view developed there of the relationship of the various Aristotelian ethical treatises. In the earlier book Kenny argues, contrary to the present consensus of scholarly opinion, that the Eudemian Ethics has at least as good a claim as the Nicomachean Ethics to being considered the canonical ethical work of Aristotle. He attempts (...) to show that the so-called common books of the two treatises belong with the EE rather than the NE, that the EE is fully as sophisticated philosophically as the NE and in some respects more so, that there are no external reasons for dating the EE prior to Aristotle’s Lyceum period or indeed to the NE itself, and that the EE and not the NE was regarded as the Aristotelian ethical treatise until as late as the second century A.D. These are far-reaching claims, but Kenny makes a strong case for them—particularly the attribution of the common books to the EE, which amounts nearly to a demonstration. The least one can say is that the extent of Kenny’s success at rehabilitating the EE exposes the fragility of many of the regnant assumptions of contemporary Aristotelian scholarship. (shrink)

Though sketchy and anecdotal, this biography sustains interest because of the wit and uniqueness of its subject. The chapters on Russell's philosophy are keyed to an elementary level.--C. L.

An account of creation revealed to the author through automatic writing. "It came through a thought process that was not my own...."--C. L.

The principal contemporary moral views are treated under three headings: 1) Intuitionism, represented by G. E. Moore, H. A. Prichard, and W. D. Ross; 2) Emotivism, as expounded by C. L. Stevenson; and 3) Prescriptivism, R. M. Hare's view. Warnock carefully distinguishes the questions these views were designed to answer from the questions which he feels they do in fact answer. Warnock emphasizes throughout the problem of the relation between moral discourse and conduct, as well as the question of the (...) possibility of moral "argument" in the sense of giving "reasons" for a moral viewpoint. In the latter half of the volume Warnock sketches what he takes to be some of the necessary requirements for a more adequate moral theory. He discusses "Naturalism" and rejects the blanket term as misleading unless the precise view one labels "naturalistic" is spelled out. Warnock distinguishes two "anti-naturalist" views: 1) that description and evaluation are different, i.e., that evaluation is not "reducible" to description and 2) that they are logically independent. He considers 1) a platitude. He accepts 2), but rejects what might be considered a further implication of this view—that absolutely anything might be regarded as a criterion of evaluation. In conclusion Warnock suggests that it might be profitable to look for the distinctive features of moral discourse in the content rather than the form. A good introduction to critical thinking, Warnock's account raises more questions than it answers.—C. L. H. (shrink)

A collection of fourteen essays, three of them previously unpublished, which manages to be both indispensable and unsatisfying. Wellek surveys methods of criticism in Europe and America, then outlines the conceptual ideals that ought to be followed. Wellek's belief in literature as a structure of norms, as imaginative writing concerned with values, will be familiar from his earlier Theory of Literature. Theoretically speaking, literary study has been muddled; the hope for it lies in applying period concepts, by approaching literature as (...) a structure of norms, and by following the guidelines set down by the New Critics. But the polemics go side by side with the erudition, in such a way that one finds judgment without argument. Contains a bibliography of Wellek's writings.—C. L. B. (shrink)

A survey of the various meanings assumed by the concept of force in physics and philosophy from ancient times to the present. Seldom rising above the level of description to the level of historical understanding, it is informative rather than illuminating and, though scholarly, unimaginatively written. -- C. L.

An exposition of the philosophy of the Indian teacher, Dattatreya. The author writes as a student and a disciple.--C. L.

A vigorous, critical examination of Descartes' conception of knowledge and method contained in the early unfinished Regulae. Bold, brief, and accurate, Joachim's lectures are model for the analytical explication of philosophical texts. Joachim ends by constructing a theory of concrete unities as a more satisfactory basis of explanation than the Cartesian method of reduction of complexes to simples.--C. L.

Mrs. Warnock opens her discussion with a warning against the attempt to define existentialism, or to treat it as a single, unified position. With this warning in mind, she then proceeds to trace some of the general features of existentialist "ethics" through the philosophies of Kierkegaard, Heidegger, and Sartre. Mrs. Warnock sees the common aim of these thinkers as the attempt to "free people from illusion." She particularly stresses 1) the breakdown of the distinction between thinking and feeling, and the (...) resultant blurring of the line between an ethics and the rest of each thinker's philosophy; and 2) the breakdown of the distinction between feeling and acting—in Sartre's words "we try to change the world." Throughout the volume the import of the role of freedom, choice, and anguish are emphasized.—C. L. H. (shrink)

Hudson's contribution is a general critical introduction to eighteenth century ethical intuitionism. Hudson divides intuitionism into two basic views: 1) "sentimentalism" or the "moral sense" view propounded by Shaftesbury and Hutcheson, and 2) "intellectualism," or the view that intuition is a form of reason or understanding, held in one form or another by Cudworth, Clarke, Balguy, and Price. Mention is also made of Butler, whom Hudson sees in the bridge position between the other extremes. After expounding these views, Hudson discusses (...) three outstanding questions raised, but not satisfactorily answered, by the eighteenth century intuitionists: i) How does one decide between conflicting obligations?; ii) Do all men intuit the "heads" of virtue?; iii) Is it our duty to do what is right or what we think right? Finally, in a brief critique, Hudson presents objections to intuitionism based primarily on his own view of the conditions that must be fulfilled in order to legitimately say "I know X." He also raises the problem of a criterion of "intuition."—C. L. H. (shrink)

This translation of Thomas' paraphrase and analysis of Aristotle's philosophy of science is, unfortunately, mimeographed and bound in a paper cover. It lacks the introductory material which is needed to orient the reader philosophically and to specify the issues at stake; it also lacks notes giving the meanings of technical terms and comparing the exposition to Aristotle's own text. There is, however, a rather extensive index. The publication of this volume intensifies the historical problem whether commentaries such as this accurately (...) represent medieval conceptions of science. Recent volumes, such as A. C. Crombie's on Grosseteste, indicate that some thinkers at least were arriving at a mathematical conception of physical reality, which could not have been derived from exclusive attention to the Aristotelian corpus.--C. L. (shrink)

A collection of previously published articles by one of the leading translators and interpreters of Hegel's philosophy. Most of the studies about Hegel concern the Phenomenology, although one goes back to his early writings to find the roots of some later doctrines. The other studies are about the philosophical presuppositions of Marxism and their relation to their idealistic sources.--C. L.

A systematic survey of the topics of moral science in the tradition of the "Aristotle via Aquinas" school. It is written in the form of a textbook with review questions, discussion topics, and suggested readings following each chapter. Little notice is taken of the standard criticisms of Aristotle and no attempt is made at originality in presentation.--C. L.

An epistemological discussion of the cognitive claims of religious, especially Christian, faith. Assuming that God exists, how can He be known? Faith is an act of interpreting the world, having much in common with sensory and moral interpretation. The assertions it gives rise to are meaningful, even within an empiricist criterion. God reveals himself only indirectly in order to preserve man's freedom and responsibility.--C. L.

An account of the transition in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from the image of the world as a finite, hierarchically ordered whole to the image of it as an infinite homogenous system. The author's method is simply to display the ideas of the leading thinkers of this period, culminating in the dispute between Leibniz and the Newtonians. The fact that this volume is an expanded version of a lecture suggests the reason why at least one half of it consists (...) of direct quotations. It is more of an anthology, arranged by a perceptive guide, than a work of history.--C. L. (shrink)

This brief volume is the first in a series of monographs designed to introduce the main types of ethical theory from ancient Greece to the present. The series provides an historical purview for the beginner, brief but accurate, interspersed with critical evaluation from a modern analytic point of view. Huby's volume on Greek Ethics is more expository than evaluative in nature, with most attention directed toward Plato and Aristotle. Some of the virtues of the volume, in spite of the lack (...) of critical comment, are: 1) The attempt to show the historical continuity of problems. ; 2) A careful treatment of Greek terms, notably physis, nomos, arete, dikaios, sophrosyne, philia, eros, emphasizing multiple meanings and connotations and, where necessary, indicating any differences between Greek and present day usage which might tend to confuse the reader.—C. L. H. (shrink)

A Thomist analysis of justice, defined as the notion that each man is to be given what is his due.--C. L.

Twelve essays--two about and one by Bentley--on such varied topics as economics, politics, physics, law, and metaphysics. A bibliography of Bentley's writings is appended.--C. L.

A collection of eight essays, including five that have previously been published. The subjects discussed are logical truth, modal logic, conditionals and entailment.--C. L.

A biographical and psychological analysis of Nietzsche's thought, written from a religious point of view. The author concludes that Nietzsche's philosophy is a reflection of four dominant factors: his sickly condition, his sensuality, his pride, and his godlessness.--C. L.

A limited edition of Dewey's earliest book-length exposition of moral theory. It was first published in 1891 when Dewey was still under the influence of German Idealism. --C. L.

A collection of passages from Plato's dialogues which bear on Christian theology and morals, arranged and translated by the Archdeacon of Westminster. --C. L.

A systematic and detailed analysis of the fundamental problems of the philosophy of physics and mathematics. The author stresses the purposive and pragmatic character of physical theory while reviewing the classical conceptions of science. Because he elaborates his ideas with utmost simplicity and because he carefully explains the scientific notions that he is interpreting, this volume could be used as an elementary text. --C. L.

An analysis of science oriented towards logical positivism. The emphasis throughout is upon psychology and the behavioral sciences although Newtonian mechanics is, in one section, selected for a detailed analysis. The title is somewhat misleading, since the interest the book displays is somewhat specialized. This is a philosophy of science rather than a general discussion of the main problems and solutions.--C. L.

A collection of five articles together with reports of discussions. The presidential address of George P. Klubertanz, S. J. proposes that Thomistic ethics be elaborated with special stress upon its experiential contents.--C. L.

Taylor's lucid and provocative analyses of Plato's dialogues, which attempt to tell "just what Plato has to say about the problems of thought and life, and how he says it," reprinted in a soft-cover edition. The original was published in 1926.--C. L.

An historical and critical survey of the various theories of totemism. Lévi-Strauss believes almost every theory explaining the relation held to exist between man and certain natural objects can be demolished: there seems to be no general biological or cultural framework which can account for totemism as an isolated phenomenon. But if totemism is seen as a way of thinking metaphorically, of correlating opposites, or of associating by contrariety then it becomes an example of a mode of thinking common to (...) sophisticated as well as primitive peoples. Observations by Bergson and Rousseau, made outside the framework of modern anthropology, bear out Lévi-Strauss' thesis. A fascinating work, marred only by a rather stiff translation.—C. L. B. (shrink)

An examination of logical systems in which distinctions in tense are taken seriously. The problem of the formulation of a tense-logic not committed to determinism is discussed. There is appended an interesting study of the problem of tense in the history of logic, showing the decline of interest in tense distinctions in post-medieval thought. This is a provocative book about a much neglected subject.--C. L.

A paper-back reprint of a polemic written against those intellectuals who have allowed practical passions--nationalism, patriotism, militarism, etc.--to undermine the activity of the disinterested reason. Although written thirty years ago this volume seems especially pertinent today as a warning against the subversion of reason by political realism. --C. L.

A revision of the seventeenth century English translation. --C. L.

A history of the development and significance of the Copernican hypothesis, starting from the fundamental problems of astronomy in ancient thought. The author discusses the involvements of philosophy and religion with this development. -- C. L.

The ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality of the French Revolution have become separated from one another as goals of political activity. The author attempts to demonstrate their essential interrelatedness and "thus to explain why the isolation of any one from the three-dimensional continuum of public life produces abstraction in theory and abominations in practice."--C. L.