A brief statement of medieval linguistic analysis as found chiefly in the works of Thomas Aquinas. A thin survey of contemporary analysis is offered in order to contrast the purported acceptance of analysis as the end of philosophy with Thomas' use of analysis as method. Unfortunately, most of the constructive work in language analysis during the past ten years is not considered. The brevity of the text precludes persuasive treatment; yet the book succeeds in its expressed purpose of sketching some (...) chief differences between the medieval and contemporary approaches in the hope that the confrontation of these currents will bring to the fore the analytic work of Aquinas himself.--D. P. B. (shrink)

Professional identity and competent ethical behaviors of nursing students are commonly developed through curricular inclusion of professional nursing values education. Despite the enactment of this approach, nursing students continue to express difficulty in managing ethical conflicts encountered in their practice. This descriptive correlational study explores the relationships between professional nursing values, self-esteem, and ethical decision making among senior baccalaureate nursing students. A convenience sample of 47 senior nursing students from the United States were surveyed for their level of internalized professional (...) nursing values (Revised Professional Nursing Values Scale), level of self-esteem (Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale), and perceived level of confidence in ethical decision making. A significant positive relationship (p < 0.05) was found between nursing students’ professional nursing values and levels of self-esteem. The results of this study can be useful to nursing educators whose efforts are focused on promoting professional identity development and competent ethical behaviors of future nurses. (shrink)

The authors use the term “principlism” to refer to the practice of using “principles” to replace both moral theory and particular moral rules and ideals in dealing with the moral problems that arise in medical practice. The authors argue that these “principles” do not function as claimed, and that their use is misleading both practically and theoretically. The “principles” are in fact not guides to action, but rather they are merely names for a collection of sometimes superficially related matters for (...) consideration when dealing with a moral problem. The “principles” lack any systematic relationship to each other, and they often conflict with each other. These conflicts are unresolvable, since there is no unified moral theory from which they are all derived. For comparison the authors sketch the advantages of using a unified moral theory. (shrink)

This research aims to identify the ethical issues perceived by intensive care nurses in their everyday practice. It also aims to understand why these situations were considered an ethical issue and what interventions/strategies have been or are expected to be developed so as to minimize them. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview with 15 nurses working at polyvalent intensive care units in 4 Portuguese hospitals, who were selected by the homogenization of multiple samples. The qualitative content analysis identified end-of-life (...) decisions, privacy, interaction, team work, and health-care access as emerging ethical issues. Personal, team, and institutional aspects emerge as reasons behind the experience of these issues. Personal and team resources are used in and for solving these issues. Moral development and training are the most significant strategies. (shrink)

In explicating the terms "Evangelical," "Catholic," and "Reformed," Vassady outlines what he thinks are the essential characteristics of any new Church communion. His analysis generally develops along classical or Neo-Orthodox Protestant lines, as is most obvious in his treatment of the apostolic succession of the episcopacy. The new Church will have a functional episcopacy but "without declaring any particular doctrine of the episcopacy." Given Vassady's theological leanings and conception of the Church, it is somewhat anomalous that he thinks organic unity (...) so highly desirable.—D. J. B. (shrink)

Essays by E. B. Allaire, May Brodbeck, Reinhart Grossmann, Herbert Hochberg and Robert G. Turnbull, most of which have already appeared since 1959. Half of the essays argue answers of a realist type to contemporary statements of traditional ontological problems. The second half of the volume studies the ontological "systems" of Ockhom, Berkeley, Frege, Moore, Wittgenstein, Quine and Dewey from a realistic standpoint. Three previously unpublished essays are included: "Particulars and Time", "Common Names", and "The 'Tractatus': Nominalistic or Realistic?". An (...) excellent beginning for a promising series.--D. P. B. (shrink)

The thesis is that any connection between Jesus and Christianity is accidental at best. Jesus was a vibrant personality capable of stirring crowds to eschatological hopes. Later followers, notably Paul, invest the simple Galilean with all the features of a Hellenic cult savior, even attributing to him a "magically reanimated corpse." Anyone interested in an adequate discussion of the development of the Biblical kerygma will not find it in this book.—D. J. B.

Raju offers a comprehensive interpretation of Western, Chinese, and Indian philosophy, using the two central concepts of "inwardness" and "outwardness" to delineate the essential tendencies of each tradition. Western Philosophy has overemphasized "outwardness", Indian Philosophy "inwardness", while Chinese Philosophy, being mostly concerned with man as social animal, reached a golden mean but failed to produce deep metaphysical speculation. Raju contends that the various traditions should be evaluated in terms of how much each one has contributed to a "full and complete (...) human life." Though his concepts of "inwardness" and "outwardness" are perhaps not extensive enough, Raju is always lucid and has made a defensible beginning for comparative philosophy.—D. J. B. (shrink)

Van Til attempts to slay the beast of liberal Protestantism as it rears its ugly head in the writings of three American professors of theology. Van Til's position, though a minority one, is important enough but somehow his major arguments suffer from a certain lack of penetration into the issues.—D. J. B.

This, the second volume in the English translation of the famous Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament, covers the Greek words in the delta to eta section of the lexicon. An indispensable exegetical aid, the entire volume is a treasury of information, but of particular interest is the discussion of dike, one of those key New Testament concepts at the heart of subsequent theological speculation.—D. J. B.

The author laudably attempts to integrate Cassirer's approach to symbolism with current work being done by sociologists, anthropologists and psychologists. The thesis that symbols are the creative link between personality and culture is defended in a variety of ways. The discussion is repetitious and disorganized. Still, the rich array of content deserves attention.--D. C. B.

The idea is discussed according to which, in the Heisenberg picture, the operators correspond to the dynamic properties while the density matrix corresponds to our knowledge. A simple, soluble model is made use of in order to determine in what way this idea needs to be refined and what it then tells us about the relationship of reality and physics.

Does physics describe anything that can meaningfully be called “independent reality,” or is it merely operational? Most physicists implicitly favor an intermediate standpoint, which takes quantum physics into account, but which nevertheless strongly holds fast to quite strictly realistic ideas about apparently “obvious facts” concerning the macro-objects. Part 1 of this article, which is a survey of recent measurement theories, shows that, when made explicit, the standpoint in question cannot be upheld. Part 2 brings forward a proposal for making minimal (...) changes to this standpoint in such a way as to remove such objections. The “empirical reality” thus constructed is a notion that, to some extent,does ultimately refer to the human means of apprehension and of data processing. It nevertheless cannot be said that it reduces to a mere name just labelling a “set of recipes that never fail.” It is shown that our usual notion of macroscopic causality must be endowed with similar features. (shrink)

With regard to the notion of cause—or more generally of influence—the various methods of proof of Bell's theorem do not all have the same bearing. The differences between two of these methods are analyzed, with regard to both their conceptual basis and their conclusions. It is shown that both methods give valuable information but, not too surprisingly, the one that is based on the more detailed and specific definition of the concept of influences, and that makes use of the concept (...) of attribute, leads to conclusions that are also to some extent more specific than those following from the other method. (shrink)

Directed to the non-philosopher, this is an attempt to sketch briefly a public philosophy for contemporary America. It attacks the "enfeebling naturalism" of Dewey and espouses the right of suffrage as the most fundamental right of man.--D. P. B.

Marsh borrows Richard McKeon's methodological notion of the "problematic" approach to intellectual history. Concentrating on their dialectical character, English criticism from 1650-1800 is explored in the writings of the third Earl of Shaftesbury, Mark Akenside, David Hartley, and James Harris.—D. J. B.

Using the principles and sometimes the conclusions of his teacher Adolf Stöhr, Cleve insists that he is giving a philosophical interpretation and not simply a philological reconstruction of these Pre-Socratics. The philosophers have been divided into 1) "Religious Reformers", 2) "Philosophers of Nature", 3) "Champions of Culture Politics"—"The Glossomorphics". There will certainly be disagreement on some of Cleve's interpretations but it must be said that Cleve carries through his philosophical reconstruction with admirable lucidity and consistency though, occasionally, some of his (...) criticisms of the "philologists" are rather waspish. Nevertheless, this is a splendid and important study which is a tribute to the author's erudition and insight.—D. J. B. (shrink)

Writing in Elizabethan English and Renaissance Latin, Stapleton was one of the leading controversialists in the Catholic Counter Reformation of the sixteenth century. Two areas of specific disagreement were the problem of justification and church government but Stapleton could indulge in the usual bitter polemics of the period by emphasizing Protestant abuses and minimizing similar conditions on the Catholic side. Father O'Connell writes well and is in control of the sources.—D. J. B.

Using rather standard techniques of linguistic philosophy, the author develops an historical and critical analysis of Ghazali's doctrine of God as utterly unique and unknowable. Divine uniqueness and unknowability are logically implied by the statement "There is one god, Allah" and are therefore not "self-refuting" but are simply analytic statements of honorific and not descriptive value. The important historical question arises then as to how Ghazali can logically talk about God "revealing" himself. Shehadi attempts to rescue Ghazali from this logical (...) bind by arguing that the Moslem creed is not a description of God but a practical directive for men. Once given the belief in divine unknowability, if Ghazali wants Allah to "authenticate" a religious creed this would be "inconsistent." Reading these sorts of arguments, gives one the impression that this volume is a Moslem imitation of a Christian original. Somehow this type of philosophical approach does not seem to do justice to either religion.—D. J. B. (shrink)

This is an exceptionally good introduction to a critical life of Jesus. The first chapters are filled with useful information about Hebrew life, culture, and legend. Connick is aware of the results of Form Criticism but adopts the more moderate position of Bornkamm. Numerous factors controlled the authenticity of the early traditions and prevented them from running rampant. In the discussion of miracles, the Virgin Birth, and the Resurrection, Connick attempts to deal with the multitude of objections which have been (...) raised against traditional beliefs. It is clear that he does not think that either Form Criticism or scientific materialism refute belief in supernatural events.—D. J. B. (shrink)

Starting from Plato's statement in the Seventh Letter that Plato never intended to write down his philosophy in systematic form, Sinaiko conceives of the dialogues as attempts to combine the power of the spoken word with the written word while avoiding the limitations of either. Dramatic form and philosophic content are interdependent. The three dialogues are interrogated for statements about dialectic, and each dialogue's account of dialectic is taken to be complete in itself. It is not simply a dialectical method (...) which Plato is using; Being itself is dialectical, and there is no final philosophical system but rather an "infinite multiplicity of systems." While it is certain that philosophy for Plato can not be separated from the activity of philosophizing, Sinaiko's claim is far more controversial: that each dialogue "sets forth a complete ontology, an entire philosophical system." One might well disagree with that contention and other more detailed points of interpretation. But Sinaiko's position is defended ably and his book has a philosophical vitality which sets it apart from the usual pedantic efforts to expose this or that Platonic argument.—D. J. B. (shrink)

Beardsley and Beardsley are to be congratulated for providing a definitively "non-run-of-the-mill" introductory text which is entirely intelligible for the beginner and yet genuinely philosophical in content and presentation. Twelve very well written chapters, each with a bibliography, cover most of the important problems in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. The authors even try to convey that philosophy has human and moral relevance beyond game activity. A significant feature of the book is its intelligent and prolonged discussion of religious beliefs. The (...) authors keep their own views well into the background and make good their claim to stimulate the student's own thinking. For that reason, teachers of widely different philosophical persuasions will find this book equally useful. —D. J. B. (shrink)

This book gives the beginning student one more passable text to chose for an introductory survey of the history of Western philosophy. Surveys of this sort usually contain some questionable assertions—e.g., referring to Aquinas' proof of God from motion, Stumpf states: "Potentiality means the absence of something and is therefore nothing...". But Stumpf writes clearly enough and includes a useful bibliography.—D. J. B.

A sequel to his New Apologists, this latest work sees the "tragic vision" as the Dionysian component of tragedy, in an irreducible tension with the ethical or Apollonian: a conflict characterizing the modern "crisis-mentality" of literature and existentialism. Gide, Kafka, and Melville, are contrasted with D. H. Lawrence, Camus, Dostoevsky, and others in a very illuminating manner.--D. C. B.

To complete our ontological interpretation of quantum theory we have to conclude a treatment of quantum statistical mechanics. The basic concepts in the ontological approach are the particle and the wave function. The density matrix cannot play a fundamental role here. Therefore quantum statistical mechanics will require a further statistical distribution over wave functions in addition to the distribution of particles that have a specified wave function. Ultimately the wave function of the universe will he required, but we show that (...) if the universe in not in thermodynamic equilibrium then it can he treated in terms of weakly interacting large scale constituents that are very nearly independent of each other. In this way we obtain the same results as those of the usual approach within the framework of the ontological interpretation. (shrink)

An introductory text which deals with several of the basic problems of semantical and logical analysis. Most of the discussion is devoted to problems of usage, rules, inference, and validity. A rather cumbersome symbolism results from the author's explicit attempt to treat these problems with the formal tools of elementary symbolic logic.--D. P. B.

Interpreting European reactions to the outside world from the beginning of European history to the end of the nineteenth century, Baudet discusses Utopian literature, the idea of the "noble savage," and the search for the temporal and geographical location of paradise. Baudet argues that the more historically oriented and self-satisfied cultures were less inclined toward a nostalgic paradise. All in all, this is a fascinating little essay in social history.—D. J. B.

Thomas surveys most of the major philosophers attempting to analyze each figure as a representative of different religious philosophies. While the expositions are competent, much of the material has been well-worked by similar studies. It is unfortunate that the author did not develop his own, often very pertinent, critical remarks usually argued from the standpoint of some form of modified theism. The book, however, is useful as an introductory text or for review purposes.—D. J. B.

As indicated by the title, this book contains seven very scholarly essays on Jewish life and thought in the 19th century. Of particular interest to philosophers is Prof. Emil L. Fackenheim's essay, "Samuel Hirsch and Hegel: A Study of Hirsch's Religionsphilosophie der Juden." In this essay, Fackenheim's masterful knowledge of Hegel is clearly visible. The thirty page essay contains a profound awareness of the theological problems inherent in Hegel's philosophy of religion as well as an awareness of how these problems (...) were explicitly engendered by Hegel's metaphysics. As an introduction to some of Hegel's basic themes, Fackenheim has provided an invaluable, if, unfortunately, all too brief, introduction.—D. J. B. (shrink)

This is a splendid study for anyone interested in the minutiae of the authorship and sources of John's Gospel. Bultmann argued for five sources: 1) revelation discourses used in the prologue and elsewhere; 2) a semeia or sign source for the miracle stories; 3) a source underlying the Johannine passion narrative but also incorporating elements of the resurrection tradition; 4) the ecclesiastical redactor who added material and gave the gospel its traditional order; 5) the work of the evangelist himself. Smith (...) scrupulously develops Bultmann's own position and summarizes all of the scholarly reaction and controversy on each point. Smith concludes that while Bultmann's contentions are brilliant and important, they are highly debatable and often relatively untenable. Smith, in contrast, weakly suggests that John's Gospel may have "been left to us in an unfinished state" and ends by wondering whether Bultmann has not overstepped the genuine theological mark by so much rearranging.—D. J. B. (shrink)

Concentrating on Teilhard's Christological interests, this book, written by a fellow Jesuit, is eminently successful in showing the essentially theological character and motivation behind Teilhard's speculations. Christology permeates the supposedly scientific theory of evolution. In Teilhard's universe, Christ is the physical center for mankind and for the material world. This vision of Teilhard's, almost Pauline in scope, is the fascination and the consternation of both theologians and scientists. A concluding chapter treats of some of the theological "risks" implicit in Teilhard's (...) attempted synthesis. Mooney is always helpful in his expositions and gracious in his criticisms. Recent, more radical theological sallies make Teilhard appear surprisingly orthodox but rather more profound. Mooney has done us a service with his book, but one emerges feeling the need for a detailed critique of Teilhard's works.—D. J. B. (shrink)