Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas, and: Volume 20. PLEASURE (1a2ae. 31–39) by Eric D’Arcy, and: Volume 34. CHARITY (2a2ae. 23–33) by R. J. Batten, O. P., and: Volume 37. JUSTICE (2a2ae. 57–62) by Thomas Gilby, O. P., and: Volume 38. INJUSTICE (2a2ae. 63–79) by Marcus Lefébure, O. P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS Summa Theologiae. By ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Latin text, English translation , Introduction, Notes, Appendices and Glossaries, Published by Black-friars in conjunction with McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, and Eyre & Spotiswoode, London. Volume 20. PLEASURE (la2ae. 31-39). Translated by Eric D'Arcy, 1975. Pp. 172. $12.50. The faithful translation of any work requires a special skill. And the more subtle and nuanced the original, the greater the triumph of rendering aptly the twists and turns of thought which lie concealed beneath an apparently uniform employment of terms. It is one thing to judge that " passio " might best be the equivalent of our English " emotion." It is another to discern that sometimes it rather means " passion " as being deliberately contrasted with the active. It is still another thing to observe even more graduated meanings of the one word and to combine these various usages of a seven-hundred-year-old book so that the English reader comes away with the impression that the original work is quite contemporary. That is the triumph of D'Arcy. But there is more. Readers with historical or philosophical appreciation will also find here keen discernment that will, I think, meet with their approval. Nor are those likely to be disappointed whose interest lies in the field of ascetics and whose frame of reference is in the scholastic tradition. In his Introduction the translator rightly notes, however, that it may be somewhat difficult to correlate contemporary systems of psychology with this Aristotelian-Thomistic system, which apparently does not recognize the various levels of the conscious. But then these contemporary systems are not easy to correlate with each other, either. It might have been of some value, consequently, had D'Arcy explicitly referred to the psychiatric method of the Netherland's Drs. Anna Terruwe and Conrad Baars (now of New York). Their noted success has given cause to wonder whether the basic Thomistic structure of the emotions might not be among the most contemporary after all, inasmuch as it evidences an exceptional grasp of the normal in reality. The limited scope of this volume on pleasure and pain could easily belie the importance of its content for moral living. St. Thomas's adroit handling of the pleasure element in human acting is itself a pleasure: "... that person is good and virtuous who takes pleasure in good deeds, that person is evil whose pleasure lies in evil deeds" (34, 148 BOOK REVIEWS 149 4 ad corp.) . Could the priority that St. Thomas allots to the good over the evil and to the positive over the negative be the reason why the translator chose to entitle this volume " Pleasure " although half of it relates to pain? Not surprisingly, some of the remedies suggested for pain and sorrow will appear quite dated. Nevertheless, the very fact of their treatment underscores how at home St. Thomas was with the bodily elements of man's nature. The "oneness " of man-body and soul, feeling and will, sense perception and intellectual apprehension-comes through loud and clear. And each element, as it touches man, is shown to have its indispensable role in morality: a truth of some importance at a time when it is fashionable in various quarters to question the role and value of the will, for instance, or even of the emotions. The Introduction to this volume is superb, the footnotes and glossary are adequate to the subject, the index is finely detailed, but unfortunately there are no appendices. Still, on the whole it is a volume that deserves to be kept handy on a good many bookshelves . Volume 34. CHARITY (~a~ae. ~3-33). Translated by R. J. Batten, 0. P., 1975. Pp. 3~6. $15.00. Worthwhile treatises on love are as difficult to write as they are perennially popular. When that love is the charity of the Gospels, unless the discourse emanates from some kind of mystical experience or intuition, it is apt to be either superficial or blase, even if theologically correct. Equally, unless such a treatise grows out of everyday life, it is likely to be too esoteric to be useful to the ordinary follower of Christ, priest or layman, for whom...