Medieval Philosophy, from St. Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa ed. by John F. Wippel, Allan B. Wolter, O. F. M. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 167 with a history, and how such giants of the spirit are more aptly described as builders rather than creators. The third volume under review is an anthology of critical comments on Plato by great philosophers from Aristotle to our own time. I would recommend it as an ideal bedside book for a Platonist. For those of us who feel more at home with 'Vodehouse, the volume, assuredly the result of painstaking research, serves at least to back up the contention of Whitehead that " the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato." St. Charle's Seminary Nagpur, India NoEL MoLLOY, 0. P. Medieval Philosophy, from St. Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa. Ed. by JoHN F. WIPPEL & ALLAN B. WoLTER, O.F.M. New York: The Free Press; London: Collier-Macmillan Limited, 1969. Pp. 487. $3.95 paper. For many years the only available collection of readings in medieval philosophy in English translation was Richard McKeon's Selections from Mediaeval Philosophers (19:29). Today the student of medieval philosophy has a choice of several good volumes of translated texts, varying in range and interest. The latest of these, edited by Fathers Wippel and Wolter, is particularly suited for undergraduate students in medieval philosophy and the general reader who is looking for information about the subject. It covers a thousand years of philosophical speculation, from St. Augustine to Nicholas of Cusa. Selections have been made from twenty-four of the most important thinkers of this period. The volume has a competently written introduction of thirty pages, sketching the main outlines of philosophy in the Middle Ages. Each chapter is prefaced by a brief account of the man whose text is translated in it. The bibliography at the end of the book contains general histories of medieval philosophy, other volumes of translations, and specific bibliographies for each chapter. These bibliographies are up-to-date and generally well compiled. A few comments are in order concerning the editors' selection of passages for translation. Any selection is bound to be somewhat arbitrary and dependent on the special interests of the translator. The texts in this volume are on the whole well-chosen. They are varied in subject matter and representative of the major figures in medieval philosophy. A few obvious lacunae should be mentioned. It is unfortunate that there is no 168 BOOK REVIEWS text from St. Albert the Great, who was surely one of the greatest of medieval thinkers. It is also regrettable that none of the Greeks who so profoundly influenced the philosophy of the Latin West are present, e. g., Denis the pseudo-Areopagite, John Damascene, or Nemesius. The Arabs and Jews are represented by Avicenna, Averroes, and Maimonides, but the text selected from Avicenna, and two of those from Averroes, are from works unknown to the scholastics of the Middle Ages. In my opinion, it would have been preferable to have chosen texts from the Arabian philosophers that had a deep impact on medieval Christian thought. However , it is true that the Christian scholastics knew but a portion of Muslim philosophy through Latin translation and that it is necessary to correct their partial viewpoint by reading the other works of the Arabs. The text from Honorius of Autun on the medieval picture of the world is of greater interest to the student of medieval science than of medieval philosophy, and Odo of Rigaud's question on theology as a science is directly theological and not philosophical. Ockham is represented by a text " On possibility and God " which, though important, is not best suited to introduce a reader to his thought. The interesting short treatise of Fridugis on "Nothing and Darkness" has been made available in English for the first time. For the most part, the translations were made specially for this volume by the editors. A spot check reveals that they are usually accurate and well done. The English is clear and modern. In several cases the editors could have improved on the translation taken from other sources, e. g., Shapcotes' translation of Aquinas's " On the Power of God " and Heron's version of Cusa's " On...