La Filosofia de la ley segun Domingo de Soto by Alfonso Zahar Vergara (review)

332BOOK REVIEWS could stand a closer scrutiny in future editions. In this section, short definitions of words like "Abbess" "Alma Mater" "Beatitudes" "Tonsure" etc. are given. Some of these definitions are marvels of conciseness and correctness. But a few of them are a trifle ambiguous. For instance, "General Absolution" is called "a blessing of the Church to which a plenary indulgence is attached." In the next sentence, the text continues: "It also is given without confession of sin...to soldiers on the battlefield " (p. 206). Evidently these are not one and the same thing, although one could obtain that impression from the Almanac. On p. 213 under "Burial" the list of those to whom ecclesiastical burial is denied should have been qualified by the inclusion of the restrictive phrase contained in No. 1240 of Canon Law, sc, "unless they (apostates, schismatics, etc.) have given some signs of repentance before death". I hope the editors will take these criticisms in the spirit in which they are given. It is precisely because this "Ready Reference" is such an important and well-written section that even more care and attention should be given to each definition so that exactness and completeness will be evident to all the readers. May the Almanac keep up and even surpass the high standards set by this 1949 edition! MATHIAS KIEMEN, O.F.M. St. Joseph Seminary, Teutopolis, Illinois. La Filosofía de la ley según Domingo de Soto-. By Alfonso Zahar Vergara. Mexico: Editorial Jus, 1946. Pp. 173. The first two chapters of this small volume describe the intellectual and spiritual situation in Spain at the time of the Council of Trent, the leading personalities, especially of Francisco de Vittoria, Melchor Cano, and Juan de Mariana, and briefly, the life of de Soto. The other three chapters summarize de Soto's legal philosophy as laid down in his work De justitia et jure. The treatise follows closely the doctrine of St. BOOK REVIEWS333 Thomas. The author summarizes de Soto's presentation under the three headings: the general notion of law, the eternal and the natural law, the human law. The Thomistic teachings are faithfully reported and the way de Soto used them is indicated. The author finds a happy formula to characterize the difference of the modern and the scholastic approach: when the schoolmen refer to justice, they think of a virtue, when the moderns do, they think of a value. As a conscientious pupil of Aquinas, de Soto stresses reason as the basis of law and its observation. As a contemporary of Mariana, he is much concerned with the problem of just government and its distinction from tyranny: when the legislator makes laws in view of his particular good he becomes a tyrant. A bibliography of seventeen items and an index are added. RUDOLF ALLERS Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. ...