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.

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the subject-object scheme in epistemology, rival conceptions of history, and the relation of faith to the Bible as an historical document.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.

A scholarly yet very readable analysis and criticism of Marxism according to the "Moscow orthodoxy," stressing problems of Marxist theory of knowledge, of science and of history, and virtually omitting consideration of Marxist economics. Attempting to be partisan without being unfair, the author devotes the final chapters to an exposition of democratic theory and compares it to Marxism. The obscurities of the democratic theory make the constructive argument less authoritative than the destructive criticisms. This does not, however, remove the main (...) value of what is an enlightening study of competing political philosophies.--R. G. S. (shrink)

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)

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 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 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 number of ordinarily separate disciplines--e.g., physics, physiology, psychology--are here brought together in an effort to reconstitute optics as the complete science of human vision, thus replacing classical optics which dealt with vision only under perfect conditions. The emphasis is primarily scientific rather than philosophical.--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)

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.

This is the second volume in the Library of Living Philosophers which has appeared in German; it follows the familiar pattern of the other volumes in this series. The long autobiographical sketch sets the scene for a philosophy asserting that it deals with a reality which, ultimately, cannot be known unequivocally but must be realized in the philosopher's existence and which, accordingly, always presents reality in a definite historical perspective. The articles are introduced by an illuminating explanation of some of (...) the key terms in Jasper's work. Some of these are discussed in critical detail in the next six articles. Four further pieces place Jaspers in his historical situation, although not with that detail and completeness which Jaspers' historicism would seem to demand. These papers deal with Jaspers' relation to Max Weber, Judaism, Nietzsche and Kierkegaard. A final, rather extensive section explores the relations between Jaspers' central position and such peripheral philosophical doctrines as political philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, the philosophies of history and religion. This volume is particularly successful in mirroring the philosophy which it tries to clarify and celebrate, for it brings to light select aspects of a philosophy which maintains that reality can only be illuminated in part, but can never be known as a whole. Appropriate to the philosophy which tends to identify the philosopher's knowing with his being, Jaspers' final reply to his critics not only makes his ideas clearer but reveals a person of impressive human stature.--R. G. S. (shrink)

Through examination of organic process as well as intellectual achievements, the author discovers a creative principle underlying all being. This leads, indirectly, to a participation of all beings in one another and, therefore, to an ethic of unlimited responsibility of all for all.--R. G. S.

A sober account of some striking examples of various "para-normal phenomena," like telepathy, clairvoyance, materializations, and poltergeists. The author tries to show that "here in para-psychology are facts which completely undermine the complacent materialism of the past century." He adduces interesting evidence derived from experiments and controlled observation, but the explanatory hypotheses put forward are less convincing.--R. G. S.

With considerable intellectual agility the author defends the traditional Catholic views on such varied themes as faith and reason and marriage and celibacy. One must admire the author's intellectual resourcefulness even where his philosophy verges on homiletics. --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 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.

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.

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)

A collection of essays from various of Bultmann's works, including one previously unpublished, offering interesting glimpses into the new existential theology which tries to reinterpret concepts of traditional theology in the light of analyses of human existence. The characteristic use of familiar terms in unfamiliar ways is still somewhat confusing.--R. G. S.

A copiously documented, scholarly, and detailed history of the elaboration of the concept of the inalienability of sovereignty and the uses to which it was put in the late Middle Ages, when national monarchies were first emerging.--R. G. S.

Thevenaz both follows and opposes Husserl. Like Husserl, he takes the Cartesian cogito as his starting point, but he substitutes greater emphasis on the subjective for Husserl's transcendentalism. He rejects the intentional analysis not as too subjectivistic but as too objectivistic. At the time of his premature death in 1955 his magnum opus on Protestant philosophy was not completed. The present memorial volumes, collect some of his published articles. The second volume has a complete bibliography. --R. G. S.

The author attempts a classification of types of orders in the universe. This is followed by characterizations of the types of order possessed by various modes of being.--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.

The author tries to clarify the differences between the Conservative and Labor parties and to justify his preference for the latter. The argument, owing to its informality, makes little contribution to political theory. The earlier case for and against socialist egalitarianism is thoughtful and honest; later chapters on Communism and on America are of lesser merit.--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)

A reprint of a well-known introduction to Hegel's thought, first published in 1923.--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.

Following von Arnim, the author regards De Virtute, the Magna Moralia and the Eudemian Ethics as genuine. He not only shows that Aristotle grounds his philosophy of law in the ethical virtue of justice, but he also traces the development from the early Aristotelian-Platonic concept of justice to the concept of justice of the Nichomachean Ethics. Justice both in the general and more specific senses, as well as Equity are discussed in considerable detail. A careful analysis with a slight Platonic (...) bias. --R. G. S. (shrink)

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.

Post-globalization trends have left many people with a sense of insecurity—on both the economic and the employment fronts. Business re-engineering, downsizing, lay-offs, excessive consumerism and greed have altered the rules of the business game. Skewed attention to mere economic criteria in many business organizations, even at the cost of societal and environmental factors, is leading to a sense of hollowness, ‘something missing’, in the organization and its employees. People are making every attempt to discover this ‘missing component’ in their lives, (...) with particular reference to their work lives. This ‘missing component’ is referred to as ‘spirit at work’ in management literature. Bringing in spirit at work has become a matter of priority for many business organizations, in their drives for sustained success. Spirit at work is about care, compassion, integrity, and about attempting to live one’s values at the workplace. It is about employees who are passionate and energized by their work, who find meaning and purpose and pursue excellence in their work, and who feel that they can express their complete selves at work. It is about individuals and organizations that see work as an opportunity to grow and to contribute to society in a meaningful way. Spirit at work can be better understood by gaining clarity about the key aspects that constitute this concept. This article reviews the extant litera-ture on spirit at work, highlights the key dimensions of spirit at work, and elaborates on each of them. A number of Indian scholars like S.K. Chakraborty, Subhash Sharma, M.B. Athreya, Panduranga Bhatta and others have proposed an Indian perspective of spirit at work and have elaborated on it since a decade and a half. This article extends the Indian perspective further, based on Indian psychophilosophy, and establishes its comprehensive and inclusive nature that enables incorporation of most of the key dimensions of spirit at work as identified in literature. (shrink)

The third volume of Ordo V in the Amsterdam edition of the Latin texts of Erasmus presents the second half of Erasmus’ commentaries on eleven Psalms. Two of them not only explain the psalms themselves, but also deal with topical questions, viz. the war against the Turks and the disintegration of Christendom.

We present a model of steady state solute and water reabsorption along the rat proximal tubule. Major co-and counter-transport systems in the apical and basolateral cell membranes are described using kinetic descriptions based on data from the flows and solute concentrations along the length of the proximal tubule as a function of filtration rate and peritubular solute concentrations. We show that for many aspects of proximal tubule transport physiology this kinetics-based model is an adequate representation of the mammalian proximal tubule.

Die Wissenschaftspsychologie wird als ein Gebiet interdisziplinärer Forschungen an der Grenze zwischen Psychologie und allgemeiner Theorie und Geschichte der Wissenschaft erörtert und ihr Verhältnis zu den anderen Richtungen der Wissenschaftsforschung, insbesondere zur Logik der Wissenschaftsentwicklung und zur Wissenschaftssoziologie dargestellt. Dabei heben die Autoren hervor, daß die Ausarbeitung jeder dieser Disziplinen eine Umgestaltung ihrer Ausgangsbegriffe und -methoden voraussetzt, was der Natur der Wissenschaft als spezifischen Systems und als besonderer sich historisch entwickelnder Tätigkeitsform entspricht. Als Grundprobleme werden u.a. behandelt: Kreativität, Motivation und (...) Schaffensdynamik des Wissenschaftlers, das Verhältnis von Persönlichkeit und Kollektiv in der modernen Wissenschaft und das Funktionieren "kleiner Gruppen". (shrink)