La Filosofia del Primo Aristotele (review)

80 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY materialism"; of Great Britain, that, "Broadly speaking, insular self=sufficiency prevails"; of South Africa, that philosophical concern and method is divided along the lines of national origin and language: There is an Afrikaans tradition (which tends toward the synthetic) and an English tradition (which tends toward the analytic) ; of Spain, that "Desde hace dos siglos y medio no habla habido en Espafia un movimiento filos6fico tan intenso como en los dltimos veinticinco afios." My only complaint with the Directory is that Introductions to certain countries are lacking. The editors are undoubtedly correct in thinking that there would be needless repetitions if there were such a piece for every country represented. But at the same time, the fact that there is no survey of philosophical activity for Australia and New Zealand, for the People's Republic of China (which may have been unavoidable, of course), or for any of the Near and Middle Eastern countries means that the aim "to represent philosophy in the various parts of the world" has come somewhat short of fulfillment. But this is a relatively minor flaw, one which would not have been noticed had the Directory been less imaginatively conceived; it is also one which can be easily corrected in the "more complete, precise, and useful" future editions which the editors hope, with the aid of their readers, to compile. Be that as it may, there is no question but that this first world=wide directory of philosophy is a successful one. DAVID FAT~, NOaTON University o] Cali]ornia, San Diego La Filosofia del Primo Aristotele. By Enrico Berti. (Padova: CEDAM, 1962. Pp. 590.) Since the publication of Jaeger's Aristoteles in 1923, a work in which the author attempted the reconstruction from fragments of a number of Aristotle's early writings and advanced the thesis that the young Aristotle was a Platonist, there have appeared a whole host of articles, books, and monographs expressing and evoking a variety of views about the philosophy of the early Aristotle. 1 The importance of Professor Berti's study is to be gauged by the fact that it takes account of all the significant work called forth by Jaeger's thesis, including specialized studies of fragments and of individual dialogues and treatises; and, on the basis of this comprehensive and thorough survey, Berti has attempted a coherent reconstruction of the philosophy of the early Aristotle, the Aristotle of the Academy. La Filosofia del Primo Aristolele is, then, one of those milestones in the investigation of any problem which, while invoking a brief moratorium on further specialized studies, essays an assessment and synthesis of the results thus far reached in the investigation of the problem. Even, therefore, if one disagrees with Berti's major thesis about the evolution of Aristotle's thought, one will gratefully concede that his work is and will remain a treasure house for the Aristotelian scholar. All students of Aristotle will be indebted to Berti for the clear and rich account, which his indefatigable research has yielded, of all the significant studies, which appeared between 1923 and 1961, of the philosophical thought of the early Aristotle. Berti's thesis (119, 232, 242,249, 315, 323, 328, 341,355, 359, 360, 362, 364, 366, 372, 387, 388, 423, 430, 436, 445, 497-498, 534, 537, 543, 553, 557, 558) can be most appropriately set forth in two parts. He insists, in the first place, that there is a continuity between the philosophical doctrines of the early Aristotle and the late Plato. He holds, secondly, that some of the important doctrines of Aristotle's mature period are foreshadowed in the philosophical position he developed while at the Academy. Putting the two together, Berti maintains--and the chief aim of his monumental study is to establish this claim--that the philosophy of the early Aristotle is a meeting-ground between Platonism, on the one hand, and the philosophical doctrines of the mature Aristotle, on the other. I shall now attempt to sketch out the way in which Berti 1The echo produced by Jaeger's work was heard immediately in the reviews of Julius Stenzel (Deutsche Literaturzeitung, 1923) and Ernst Hoffman (Philologische Wochenschrift, 1924) and...