Authority ed. by Frederick J. Adelmann (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 389 popular press! The style is racy, readable, and light, and in parts the content has no " weight problem " either. Overall, the book is fresh, original, and stimulating, and a worthwhile contribution to an area in theology needing profundity and integration. St. Charles' Seminary, Nagpur, India PETER KIRKE, 0. P. Authority. Edited by FREDERICK J. ADELMANN. The Hague, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, 1974. ll8. Guilders 27.50. In his Foreword editor Frederick J. Adelmann says of these collected essays: " It is up to the reader to try to discern the truth enunciated partially at least in each of these essays, keeping in mind, of course, that any of us in our human philosophical speculations is also limited." (p. 5) In general, the limitations are more pronounced than one would hope; more significantly, the collection as a whole suffers from the weaknesses of each essay, which weaknesses are highlighted by the lack of any truly integrating thread which might collect the parts into one. There are moments of promise, but the brevity of each essay prohibits the internal development of such promises; externally, the promises of one essay tend not to complement the hope raised in some other essay. In spite of such criticism one welcomes a volume on" authority." What structured group of people in the contemporary Western world does not ache for a sane experience of saving authority? The words "my countryright or wrong " are too hauntingly familiar; hearing them reminds us of those who could not obey an authority they judged to be without moral undergirding. "Law and order" sounds like a call for strongly-exercised authority; those who recoguize the underlying code anticipate selective repression, not true authority. The Roman Catholic Church writhes in the agony of having no well-understood authority. Episcopal collegiality is seen by some as a challenge to papal authority; one often surmises, righty or wrongly, that episcopal proponents of collegiality are less enthusiastic when such a doctrine would appear to diffuse episcopal authority, extending the responsibility for decision-making to sub-episcopal realms. And yet most everyone dreams of the emergence of truly authoritative voices; the same tongue which acidly eats at recent expressions of " authority " cries longingly for leadership. Karl Rahner's "Theology and the Church's Teaching Authority after the Council" engagingly raises the issue, while typically (for Raimer) not pretending to resolve it definitively; one can discern an appreciation for 390 BOOK REVIEWS the " will " element of authority while also being reminded of the significance of the " intellect," the content of what is stated with authority. Indeed, the most profitable theme which recurs spurtingly and with uneven clarity in this little volume is that " authority " very much involves the communication of some value from one to another (which is most usually a grouping of others). (Joseph M. Bochenski's spirited foray into the formal logic of authority, albeit unfulfilling for those on a rather more metaphysical journey, even reminds us that authority is a triadic relation.) Probing what it means to call Einstein an "authority" in physics serves to open up new possibilities for re-understanding ecclesial "authority"; as soon as one recalls that disputes about ecclesial " authority " are most often about "teaching authority," one is reminded that Einstein is a more felicitous analogate than is Hitler. Richard T. DeGeorge incisively sorts out four types of authority in morality and uses this distinction to clarify some existing painful misunderstandings; it is good for him to remind us that when " authorities " disagree among themselves, the " authority " of each is diminished, and it is likewise good to be convinced that the parent/child relationship is not an appropriate paradigm for most instances of moral authority. The volume is dedicated to John Wild whose death punctuated the months between the completion of his essay "Authority" and the publication of the collection Authority; such a dedication would have been merited solely by the clarity and wisdom of his essay which enjoys first position in the collection. Having shown the triadic nature of "authority," he speculates on the errors which can arise when the one who is an authority shifts his stance too near to (a) the value being communicated or (b) the...