Barbara Celarent by Thomas Gilby, O. P. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 601 Barbara Celarent. By THOMAS GILBY, 0. P. New York: Longmans Green. Pp. 319 with index. $4.00. In his introduction, Fr. Gilby points out that he is not writing a manual on logic but rather he is explaining a habit of mind and method. This is his purpose and the author adheres to it throughout. For Fr. Gilby, clear thinking becomes a virtue attached to friendliness. Man owes it to his fellowmen to reason accurately and express himself correctly. " Logic is part cif the courtesy of conversation " (p. 8) writes the English Dominican. The central theme of the book is to show how logic is related to dialectics and dialectics to philosophy and theology. In the first part of the work, the author delineates the limits of logic. No false claims are made for his subject and any relationship to the exaggerated positions of the later scholastics on the power of logic are discredited. The Organon of Aristotle is briefly explained and the objects of logic are given. In a footnote (p. 81) the author gives the formal and material division of logic but it is simply a nominal one wherein the first three books of the Organon are placed under formal logic and the last three under material logic. Thus there is avoided the hopeless confusion created by some of the manualists who have practically limited logic to the Prior Analytics at the cost of demonstrative logic. Parts two, three, ~and four get at the very heart of the subject. Part five considers fallacies and part six, which concludes the book, gives the outline and arguments of an actual scholastic disputation. Fr. Gilby covers the entire field of logic and brings in besides many useful and necessary notions for understanding scholastic philosophy, particularly analogy. For completeness in coverage the book matches any textbook in logic and it surpasses all in its reader appeal. The title of this work, Barbara Celarent, is an indication of the spirit in which it was written. Such a title seems to imply that the book is a novel. Certainly Fr. Gilby's approach to his subject is novel but there _any resemblance to fiction ends. The subheading of the opus is: " A Description of Scholastic Dialectic." No description has been written that has such fluency of style and engaging presentation of material as has Barbara Celarent. Fr. Gilby has done for St. Thomas the philosopher what Fr. Walter Farrell did for St. Thomas the theologian. He has written a companion to the philosophic thought of the Angelic Doctor. Barbara Celarent is no mere restatement of what has been said innumerable times before by admirers of scholasticism. On the contrary, the brilliant use of examples and the consistent and successful application of logic and dialectics to every day life, makes Fr. Gilby's book one of significance. Only a few examples need be cited to indicate the wit and wisdom of this volume. Writing of modern trends in logic, the author notes: "Mathe- 602 BOOK REVIEWS matical logic cannot operate without some of the philosophical assumptions that traditional logic alone is able to match; while the traditional logic on its side should respect the convenience of this special symbolism for the exhibition of pure logical form and relations and for working with the concepts of mathematical physics. It is a legitimate extension of the methods employed by Aristotle and an instrument of the liaison between the special sciences. A precious rule of criticism should be respected; let data be explained in their own proper terms. Criticism should proceed from within a subject. Music should not be defined by colour, nor life by non-biological concepts, nor identities by equations, nor quantities by qualities, nor literature by history, nor scholastic theology slighted for not providing the loving recognition of the divine presence." (p. 128) Fr. Gilby is realistic about his subject. He points out that St. Thomas, towards the end of his life, regarded his theological writings like chaff. And adds Fr. Gilby: " ... logic is even dustier." But he immediately notes that " . . . both are necessary if ultimately we are to be caught up into the vision where nothing is wanting. In the meantime...