The third volume of the new edition of Scheler's works. It contains a number of ethical and political essays, first published in 1915, together with notes and indices new to this edition. --R. G. S.

An early work of Marcel's, mainly expository, written because he held that a contemporary philosopher cannot reflect on questions of time and eternity and of the nature of the individual without close scrutiny of Royce's solution. Marcel develops Royce's conception of absolute idealism from the analysis of certain perennial problems of epistemology. The problematic approach lends cogency to a lucid exposition.--R. G. S.

An intellectual biography, sketching the development from Dilthey, the theologian, to Dilthey, the philosopher of history and culture. The major intellectual influences are presented in the variegated setting of the contemporary scholarly community and the dominant modes of thought and controversies in that community. A systematic exposition of Dilthey's thought follows. Altogether a lucid and interesting introduction to Dilthey.--R. G. S.

A "scientific...objective study of a social phenomenon," not an argument for democracy. The author maintains that the historical opposition between autocracy and democracy reflects the opposition between philosophical absolutism and philosophical relativism. Only relativism can justify an egalitarian democracy ruled by a majority, since today's truths may be to-morrow's errors; Christian and Natural Law theories of democracy are criticised. The work, unfortunately, lacks an adequate philosophical foundation. The discussion of the function of democracy fails to be fully convincing because the (...) underlying distinction between philosophical absolutism and relativism is oversimplified and unclear.--R. G. S. (shrink)

An interesting essay in the phenomenology of moral value. The authors regard all traditional ethics as "deformations" of the Christian ethics of love and submission to God. Traditional mores, or the laws of the state, are seen as substitutes for Christian ethics--as are liberalism, identification of morality with honor, humaneness, self-development, altruism, self-control, moderation, etc. The work is primarily descriptive, and arguments in defense of viewing Christian ethics as the only genuine morality of which all others are preversions, are scarce.--R. (...) G. S. (shrink)

Glum defends two theses: that Rousseau's political philosophy can be understood only against a religious background, and that Rousseau can supply the West with the democratic theory of the state which it is now lacking. To support the latter claim, he attempts a detailed refutation of those commentators who regard Rousseau as the father of totalitarian regimes and doctrines.--R. G. S.

The authors aptly describe their work as a narrative. The protagonists are sometimes great thinkers, sometimes ideas about literary criticism, sometimes different approaches to literature whose intermingling histories are here described. At the same time the authors are in quest of a varied and many-sided presentation of the nature and writing of literature. Accordingly the insights of philosophers and literary men are stressed more than the consistency of their opinions; understanding is valued more highly than the certainty of systems. In (...) this way classical texts are placed in an interesting new light and lesser known episodes of this history are brought to life.--R. G. S. (shrink)

The second half of this book is devoted to classic texts of Marxism, the first to a remarkably concise statement of the theories of Marx and Engels as well as of the major figures in the various Marxist movements. Mr. Hook's Introduction is rich in content, and critical without being unfair. Far superior to most introductory works on Marxism. --R. G. S.

An index listing all the places in which words occur in Thomas' Summa Theologica. Only philosophically indifferent words have been omitted. --R. G. S.

A careful discussion of the major logical and epistemological issues raised and solutions suggested by the original members and followers of the "Vienna Circle." The author shows the progressive elaboration of the positions of this school by its major figures and shows where opinions diverge within the movement. The discussion is amply documented with references to the standard literature. The book aims at reviving interest in the "scientific method of philosophising" in the German speaking world.--R. G. S.

Two lectures which argue for increased study of comparative philosophy and which point out some of the main differences between the philosophies of East and West.--R. G. S.

Rome, the author holds, is not only the symbol of a political empire and a world at peace but also of a definite image of man. As a consequence it became the focus of the controversy between humanistic and other worldly Christianity. The present work deals with Augustine's views on Rome as political symbol and as moral symbol.--R. G. S.

Based on papers read to the Centre Catholique des Intellectuels Français by a group of Catholic authors, including Gustave Thibon and Daniel-Rapa. Freedom is not mere independence: it is the choice of bonds to those we love. Since the Christian is related to his God in love, Christianity is the source and basis of genuine freedom. The authors attempt to substantiate this thesis in essays on Hinduism, Islam, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Freedom in the Greek World. The concluding essays examine (...) the requirements for the preservation of freedom in our day.--R. G. S. (shrink)

An attempt to defend Bultmann's existentialist re-interpretation of Protestant Theology against its critics. The major areas of disagreement center around the existentialists' rejection of the subject-object scheme in epistemology, rival conceptions of history, and the relation of faith to the Bible as an historical document. Provides an interesting view of the troubled waters of contemporary Protestant Theology.--R. G. S.

von Recklinghausen did not publish any of his philosophical writings in his lifetime. The present volume contains a very summary statement of his organic philosophy based on the unpublished materials, together with critical and historical appreciations by the editor of the papers.--R. G. S.

An attempt to overcome current continental philosophies of despair by a rediscovery and reaffirmation of the human spirit. The vehicle of this attempt is a detailed statement of Goethe's philosophy of man, his place in the universe and his relation to God.--R. G. S.

The unity of Plato's writings is discovered in their connection with Plato's life; they are parts of a "great confession." Wolff reconstructs Plato's life on the basis of his works and interprets his works in the light of his biography. The relevant facts of Plato's life, on Wolff's view, are the trial and death of Socrates, political movements and the study and criticism of other philosophers. These facts tend to throw light on Plato's development but contribute little to our understanding (...) of the internal unity of individual dialogues.--R. G. S. (shrink)

A reprint of the 1951 translation of Kleines Lehrbuch des Positivismus, this work presents the positivist's view of the world for the layman, but introduces a few interesting variations on standard positivist positions. More space than is usual in similar books is devoted to a discussion of the social sciences, art, law, morality, and religion.--R. G. S.

An eminently readable essay in the history of ideas. Various strands of Primitive Christianity are identified against the backgrounds of their antecedents: the Old Testament heritage whose history of the world was the history of God's work; the legalistic ritualism of Judaism against which Jesus protested; the wedding of Judaism with Greek rationalism in Hellenistic Alexandria; and the philosophic schools of the Greek world.--R. G. S.

This volume contains shorter pieces of Scheler's dealing with phenomenology and ethico-religious problems. All but two had been published posthumously in 1933, and are now reissued within the framework of the new edition of Scheler's works.--R. G. S.

The Marxist theory of history and of the sources of cultural change is here applied to the Pre-Socratics. As a consequence, most of the book is devoted to pre-history and to the history of Greece from the Homeric Age on. The final portions discussing the Pre-Socratics show the economic sources of the different schools and the ways in which they anticipated confusedly the truths of Dialectical Materialism. The book contributes little either to Marxist theory or to philosophy, and is interesting (...) only as an application of Marxist theory to the history of philosophy.--R. G. S. (shrink)

Believing that the law is "a rich repository of moral knowledge" and that moral rules gain full reality only in their application to concrete cases, the author, a professor of law, examines actual court cases for the moral conflicts they reveal and the moral insights they may yield. The aim is not merely to instruct the reader but to develop his ability to make wise moral choices by presenting, with full attention to their complexities, a number of difficult cases. Professor (...) Cahn's analyses are carried out with wisdom and sensitivity.--R. G. S. (shrink)

This book, first published in 1940, accomplishes three tasks: 1) it gives a lucidly fascinating account of the theology underlying St. Bernard's diagnosis of man's condition and the cure proposed by him--monastic asceticism leading to mystical union; 2) it rectifies misinterpretations of St. Bernard's doctrine of carnal love as the first step to pure love; and 3) it uncovers the major sources of this system of theology: Cicero, Augustine, the Epistle of St. John, Dionysius and the Rule of St. Benedict. (...) The interest of the work is enhanced by appendices on Abelard, on the relation of Cistercian Mysticism to courtly love and on William of Saint-Thierry.--R. G. S. (shrink)

The author regards himself as a champion of "philosophical rationalism" in terms of which he criticizes phenomenological philosophers--Husserl, Scheler, Hartmann and Heidegger--for their intuitionism. Though usually devastating, the criticisms are frequently so unsympathetic that they remain philosophically unproductive.--R. G. S.

The third volume of the new edition of Scheler's works. It contains a number of ethical and political essays, first published in 1915, together with notes and indices new to this edition. --R. G. S.

A careful discussion of the major logical and epistemological issues raised and solutions suggested by the original members and followers of the "Vienna Circle." The author shows the progressive elaboration of the positions of this school by its major figures and shows where opinions diverge within the movement. The discussion is amply documented with references to the standard literature. The book aims at reviving interest in the "scientific method of philosophising" in the German speaking world.--R. G. S.

Based on papers read to the Centre Catholique des Intellectuels Français by a group of Catholic authors, including Gustave Thibon and Daniel-Rapa. Freedom is not mere independence: it is the choice of bonds to those we love. Since the Christian is related to his God in love, Christianity is the source and basis of genuine freedom. The authors attempt to substantiate this thesis in essays on Hinduism, Islam, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Freedom in the Greek World. The concluding essays examine (...) the requirements for the preservation of freedom in our day.--R. G. S. (shrink)

A fine example of phenomenological analysis, this book describes the locus of aesthetics but does not offer an aesthetic theory. The work of art is characterized by the peculiar way it has of presenting itself to and of laying hold of its observer. This leads to an analysis of form and structure, of beauty and aesthetic truth, both in art and in nature.--R. G. S.

A concise and informative discussion of key concepts in the New Testament: the kingdom of God; the ethic of the Sermon on the Mount; the concepts of guilt and redemption in Pauline theology. The author tries to interpret these concepts against the background of centuries of theological controversy.--R. G. S.

An interesting essay in the phenomenology of moral value. The authors regard all traditional ethics as "deformations" of the Christian ethics of love and submission to God. Traditional mores, or the laws of the state, are seen as substitutes for Christian ethics--as are liberalism, identification of morality with honor, humaneness, self-development, altruism, self-control, moderation, etc. The work is primarily descriptive, and arguments in defense of viewing Christian ethics as the only genuine morality of which all others are preversions, are scarce.--R. (...) G. S. (shrink)

The second half of this book is devoted to classic texts of Marxism, the first to a remarkably concise statement of the theories of Marx and Engels as well as of the major figures in the various Marxist movements. Mr. Hook's Introduction is rich in content, and critical without being unfair. Far superior to most introductory works on Marxism. --R. G. S.