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544 BOOK REVIEWS final section treats the humanistic evolutionism of Julian Huxley and the Christian evolutionism of Teilhard de Chardin. The work covers many more figures than similar introductions to philosophy of history by W. H. Walsh and Karl LOwith, although Walsh devotes more attention to the analysis of historical explanation and Lowith concerns himself more than Sullivan with the theology of history. Although somewhat surprised by the limited attention paid to Vico, this reviewer was much gratified to read the splendid section on the muchneglected Wilhelm Dilthey who figured so prominently in the history of ideas for over a half-century. One might object, however, to the characterization of Nietzsche's revival of eternal recurrence as pessimistic. However much he differed from the Greeks in cyclic theory, his theory of eternal recurrence must be considered in relation to his theory of the over-reaching and exultant tl"bermensch . The only serious objection to this excellent book is the omission of any treatment of Greek cyclicism against which the real significance of both secular and religious linear philosophies must be compared. The Catholic Univm-sity of America Washington, D. C. RoBERT PAUL MoHAN The Essential Philo. Ed. by NAHuM N. GLATZER. New York: Schocken Press, 1971. Pp. 87~. $8.95. There is a continuous line from Plato to the Fourth Gospel. During the intervening centuries Plato's Idea received many supplementary insights and concepts into itself. In all probability the most significant, from the standpoint of later Christian teaching, was supplied by Philo of Alexandria. Philo was a well-educated Jew, and a well-educated Greek. He was a Roman citizen and the elected leader of the huge Jewish community of Alexandria, in which capacity he visited Rome. He lived in the last quarter of the first pre-Christian century and well into the first Christian century. The exact dates of his birth and death are unknown. Philo was the first Jewish scholar to undertake a somewhat systematic study of the relationship between the Hebrew Bible and some aspects of Greek thought. Being an heir to Platonic concepts, he concentrated on creation, the movement from the noncorporeal to the corporeal, and ideas. He was the first Jew to articulate the universally accepted thesis BOOK REVIEWS 545 among Jewish thinkers that all words dealing with the Godhead in the Hebrew Bible must be treated allegorically, not literally. He accepted " hidden knowledge " in the words of Torah, though he did not explicate any mystical doctrines or ideas himself. Of chief interest to Christians is his personification of the Logos. He tends to identify it with Chochmah (wisdom) in the Book of Proverbs. This synthesis of Logos as Idea and Logos as Wisdom personified bridges well to the beginning of the Gospel according to John. Until now, students who wished to get a good working knowledge of Philo and his thought were limited in reality to Harry A. Wolfson's great and definitive work. Glatzer's anthology is a valuable addition to our literature, especially for those non-specialists who wish to know briefly and in Philo's own words what he was about. The editor's Preface is faultless and happily brief. Twelve selections from Philo's writings constitute the bulk of the book. They are well chosen. The notes are brief and useful. The bibliography is good. We are in debt to Prof. Glatzer and to Schocken Press for bringing out a small volume which closes one large lacuna in the working library of the generalist in religion. The Essential Philo does just that, and well. The Catholic University of America Washington, D. C. RABBI EuGENE J. LIPMAN Ancients and Moderns. Ed. by JoHN K. RYAN. Studies in Philosophy and the History of Philosophy. Vol. 5. Washington, D. C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1970. Pp. 368. $1~.95. The title of this volume is a trifle misleading. True enough, it includes studies of ancient philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus) and of modern ones (Kant, Blonde!, Bergson, Husser!, Strawson) . But it also offers a translation of Duns Scotus's treatise on the omnipotence of God (Quaestiones Quodlibetales, VII), and the article on Kant is also on Aquinas. Hence, it contains more...

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