Porfirio negli ultimi cinquant' anni (review)

612 JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 34:40CTOnER 1996 In addition to exploring the philosophy of God, in Part 2, he spends several chapters, approximately one-third of the work, discussing Christology and analyzing relations among the persons of the Trinity. This section of the book will be of concern and significance to theologians as well as to philosophers interested in the period. The book's tools could be improved. The nonspecialists at whom the book is aimed may find the many German works listed in the bibliography inaccessible. Some recent significant works are missing, for example, Markus, ed., Augustine: A Collectionof Critical Essays (5972), and O'Daly, Augustine's Philosophy of Mind (5987). A chronological summary, similar to that found in Sorabji, Time, Creation, and the Continuum (5983), 4~2-~4, would have been helpful. SHERI KATZ Spring Hill College Giuseppe Girgenti. Porfirio negli ultimi cinquant' anni. Milan: Vita e Pensiero, 1994. Pp. 376. Paper, L 45,ooo. This book is a systematic and chronologically arranged bibliography of the primary and the secondary sources for the thought of Porphyry and its historical influence, which have been published from 194o to 1994. That a book of this kind and of such length has been conceived and produced is indicative of the revival of Neoplatonic Studies which has occurred in the second half of the twentieth century. To a great extent, such a revival has become possible because of the scholarly activities of the International Society for Neoplatonic Studies and its active chapters in different continents and countries, such as Canada, India, France, and Italy. More specifically, the publication of this book, a year after A. Smith's monumental edition of Porphyrius: Fragmenta, is indicative of the increased interest in Porphyry and his multifaceted work. There is a short preface by Giovanni Reale and an extensive and informative introduction by the author. In his preface, Reale places Porfirio historically in the line of a number of important bibliographical studies undertaken by himself or by other scholars, the most relevant of which is A. Smith's Porphyrian Studies since x9z3, which was published in 1987. Thus, Girgenti's work can be seen as a continuation of Smith's work,just as Smith's work was a continuation ofJ. Bidez's work. Reale concludes with a remark, echoed by Hadot in recent years, as well as by Girgenti both in the introduction and in the commentaries, to the effect that Porphyry diverges from Plotinus regarding the metaphysical question of 0nto/og/a vs. hen0/0g/a, and that Porphyry favors the former. Porphyry's presumed greater influence on the Christian Fathers regarding the theological formulation of the trinitarian doctrine is also seen as a result of his tendency towards what he calls onto-heno/og/a (52-13, 57-~8, and 31). Be that as it may, the entries in the book are arranged chronologically, followed by summaries which vary in length from a few lines to a few pages. The lengthier summaties correspond to the more extensive studies and they are useful in that they highlight the main points of books and articles. Also extremely useful are some of the eight BOOK REVIEWS 613 indices (319-73), including an Index of Arguments and Principal Themes, an Analytical Index, and an Index of Cited Authors. The overall utility of this book will be limited by the fact that it is written in Italian, but this is the common fate of books which do not use English. This may be unfortunate but seems inevitable these days. English versions of books like Girgenti's would be useful and welcome. CHRISTO$ EVANGELIOU Towson State University John Cottingham, editor. Reason, Will, and Sensation: Studies in Descartes'sMetaphysics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Pp. ix + 333. Cloth, $55.oo. This collection consists of fourteen papers commemorating the Meditations's 35oth anniversary. Two groups of papers are noteworthy: those which address problems surrounding the will, a topic not treated in other recent anthologies, and those which extend current debate on the nature of sensation. Vere Chappell carefully presents both the freedom and causation of volition in "Descartes's Compatibilism." Chappell argues that the will's dependence on...