Franciscan Studies

238BOOK REVIEWS philosophers with a satisfactory metaphysical sub-structure and rational theory, enabling them to integrate new facts, e.g., modern views of chemistry and the problems presented by the electron theory, into the traditional matter and form theory in an acceptable interpretation other than the rigid unicity theory of St. Thomas. Such minor slips do not effect the real worth of the book, which will richly repay careful reading and re-reading. Beraro Vogt, O.F.M. Franciscan House of Studies, Butler, NJ. Augustine's Quest of Wisdom. Life and Philosophy of the Bishop of Hippo. By Vernon J. Bourke, Ph. D. (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1945. Pp. xii+323. $3.00.) The need for a chronological-genetic approach to the study of great philosophers and teachers has become increasingly evident since Professor Werner Jaeger's monumental work on Aristotle. "In the treatment of intellectual progress, if we are to give full weight to the creative and underived element in great individuals, we must supplement the general tendency of the times with the organic development of the personality concerned" (Jaeger: Aristotle, p. 3). That Professor Jaeger set the pace by his study of the inner intellectual growth of the Stagirite, is common knowledge. A like approach to Saint Thomas is suggested in the Preface to the Ottawa edition of the Summa theologiae (torn. I, pp. xxi-xxii); and a study of the inner development of the thought of Saint Bonaventare would carry us to some interesting conclusions. In contrast to these two princes of Scholasticism, Saint Augustine, the Doctor communis, has himself provided a broad outline of his own mental development in the two books of his Retractations, which thus supply the basis of more complete investigation. If only for this fact, that Doctor Bourke's study does attempt some such exposition, it is a welcome addition to the literature of the current Augustinian renaissance. He does not claim that the book is an adequate treatment, for he expressly declares that to be beyond his intentions (p. 202); yet the work does quite deftly forge into a fairly complete whole a study of the life and the more important works of the Saint. As such, it marks a contrast to the studies of Professor Gilson, Introduction à l'étude de S. Augustin, and of Professor Pegis, "The mind of Saint Augustine," Mediaeval Studies, VI (1944), 1-61, both of which are more directly doctrinal and technical in content. Professor Bourke, on the other hand, has woven together a biography and an analysis of the more important works in their chronological order. In this he has made good use of the Retractationes to indicate the value of the various works and the transitional state of Augustine's thought, particularly in the early years before his ordination. The last section of the book, in addition, is given over to a direct analysis of three major and mature works of Augustine the Bishop, the De Trinitate, the De Genes/ ad litteram and the De Civitate De/. The book contains two appendices, a BOOK REVIEWS239 chronological list of St. Augustine's works and a chronology of his life, plus an adequate index. For the student of Franciscan philosophy the book is of special interest , because of the great dependence of Franciscan Scholastics on the Doctor of Hippo (Cf. E. Longpré, O.F.M., "S. Augustin et la pensée franciscaine," La France Franciscaine, XV (1932), 5-76). Professor Bourke points (p. 102, n. 82; p. 202, n. 4) to Saint Bonaventure's Itinerarium mentis in Deum as having best caught the spirit of the Augustinian quest of God. Though perhaps beyond his theme, the work would have been even more valuable had he indicated the many further instances of such dependence on the part of the Scholastics in general. The book, then, is a most pleasing contribution to American scholarship , combining both scientific research and popular presentation. If we present a table of needed emendations, the latter will not detract from the substantial worth of the work as a whole nor indicate a lack of appreciation of the immense amount of labor that entered into its composition. The reader is jarred at times...