Brief Notices

BRIEF NOTICES Georg Simmel, 1858-1918. A Collection of Essays, with Translations and a Bibliography. Edited by Kurt H. Wolff. Columbus, Ohio: The Ohio State University Press, 1959. Pp. 396. $7.50. In his Preface to this volume, Dr. Kurt H. Wolff, presently chairman of the Department of Sociology at Brandeis University, expresses the hope that it will acquaint the reader with " the catholicity and originality " of Simmel's intellect. Simmel, who discoursed and wrote in the fields of aesthetics, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of history, and sociology, is too often identified only with the latter field, and here as the inventor of "formal sociology." However important this contribution (and F. H. Tenbruck 's essay is particularly illuminating), the remaining twelve essays of the volume, the translations of eight minor works of Simmel, the bibliographies of writings on him and of his works testify both to the breadth of his interests and his influence. Perhaps the most stimulating essay is Gertrud Kantorowicz's Preface to a collection of Simmel's posthumous essays. The authoress draws attention to his central metaphysical idea, i.e., that the concept of life includes both open flux and closed crystallization, " both the process of life inces~ santly newborn and the entities which emerge out of life (in the one-sided sense of the word) are lifted out of the flux, and are even pitted against it " (p. 3) . This approach to the recurring problem of stability and change, alternately emphasized by social scientists, contributes a germinal point in which being and becoming can meet and fuse. Being preserves its " pure dynamics," but beside it stands the unchangeability of " eternally valid structures of timeless being." Simmel applies this conception to art interpretation, philosophy, history, as well as to sociology. The existentialist quality and the emphasis on form in Simmel's thinking, or the positivistic orientation of the Parsonial school, or both, may account for his omission from the latter's The Structure of Social Action. That Dr. Wolff has labored so thoroughly in this and his earlier volume on The Sociology of Georg Simmel (1950) to rectify this omission is testimony not only to Simmel's genius, but also to the editor's concern for a total sociology, explaining being as well as becoming, form as well as material content. The essays are generally well-written and the translations flow smoothly. They provide apt illustrations of points developed by the various contributors . While at first glance the range of topics seems to be wide, a unified impression of Simmel emerges. This is a tribute to the work of the editor. 676 BRIEF NOTICES 677 American social scientists can profit much from a study of this volume. It supplies a dimension of philosophical orientation which is often lacking in American social science. While in many instances, the conceptual scheme of Simmel will not satisfy the rigor of philosophical analysis, it can function as a much-needed emphasis, couched in the language of the fraternity. For those outside the social sciences, perhaps inclined to note the shallowness of much sociological empiricism and social behaviorism, acquaintance with Simmel can encourage the study of social science. This could well facilitate the necessary dialogue between philosophers and social scientists, directed toward a realistic, unified science of human behavior, fully appreciative of flux and becoming, yet oriented toward " eternally valid structures of timeless being." College of Mount St. Joseph Mcmnt St. Joseph, Ohio LoUIS A. RYAN, O.P. Cuttat, J.-A., The Encounter of Religions (foreword by D. von Hildebrand ; trans!. by Pierre de Fontnouvelle with Evis McGrew). New York: Desclee, 1960. 159 pp. $3.50. ". . . Hesychasm appears to be a sort of ' synthesis ' between the two poles of all human spirituality, interiority and transcendancy, whose respective predominance . . . seems to characterize the East and West " (p. 96) . Such is the thesis of the author of this provocative little volume. What goes before is a lucid explanation and criticism of the relation of the " natural mysticism " of some of the religions of the Far East to the uniquely authentic spirituality of Christianity. What comes after is a development of the hesychast method of interiorization and prayer, together with a judgment concerning its authenticity. In...