Fundamento Constitutivo de la Moral By José M. Rubert y Candau (review)

396Book Reviews The question of the extent to which ethics is self-contained as a science and the extent to which natural theology must be introduced is examined by Dr. John O. Riedl in "Ethics and Natural Theology." It is the contention of this author that "the notion of the good cannot be expanded within ethics" but that this notion "could be expanded by clarifications from natural theology." Dr. Riedl develops in a thought-provoking manner the fact that ethics is subordinated to theology, both natural and supernatural. The Round Table Discussions explore in briefer fashion, but in a no less critical and thorough-going manner questions of interest to "lovers of wisdom" including: (r) What is Formal Logic?; (2) A Philosophical Interpretation of Recent Formal Logic; (3) The Significance of the Term Virtus Naturalis in the Moral Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas ; (4) A Psychologist Looks at the Problem of Psychology and Logic; (5) The Being of Creatures: St. Thomas' Solution of the Dilemma of Parmenides and Heraclitus; (6) The Contemporary Status of Natural Philosophy; (7) The Contemporary Status of Scholastic Psychology; (8) Being and God in Heidegger's Philosophy; (9) Intuition in Thomistic Moral Philosophy; (ro) Knowledge of Person Implied in the Thomistic Doctrine of Love. Another section of this volume is a factually accurate account of "The Problem of Communication between Catholic and Non-Catholic Educators and Philosophers" prepared by Gerald B. Phelan for the joint session of The American Catholic Philosophical Association and the National Catholic Educational Association which was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on April 24, 1957. The article deals with "the task of achieving a mutual understanding , if not a common agreement, between persons who differ widely in their views and convictions." Also included in the contents of this work are the Minutes of the ThirtyFirst Annual Meeting, the Report of the Secretary, the Report of the Committee on Resolutions, the Report of the Treasurer, the Minutes of the Meeting of the Executive Council and the List of Members of the Association. The entire collection is a sensitive, careful treatise of Thomistic doctrine, characterized by translations and interpretations of the Angelic Doctor that are sound, documentations that are precise and a systematic, integrated organization of critiques tempered by lucid, effective defense of traditional Thomistic teachings. Sister Mary Anthony Brown, O. S. F. The Franciscan Institute, St. Bonaventure, N. Y. José M. Rubert y Candau, Fundamento Constitutivo de la Moral. Madrid : Ediciones "Verdad y Vida", 1956. Pp. 216. This text, which explores the basic phenomenological elements of feeling and willing, uses frequent reference to the doctrine of M. Scheler. The eleven chapters, comprehensive treatments of the Value-Theory, commence with the essential structure of knowledge. This initial chapter is followed by a section in which feeling, sentiment and their intentionality Book Reviews397 are meticulously scrutinized by a writer who displays competence and familiarity with the subject under consideration. Although this chapter has nine interesting sub-divisions, by far the most appealing, is the fifth which concerns "Ethical Nominalism and the Kantian Interpretation of Material Value." Regarding emotions, some of the engrossing aspects about which the author writes are those which have to do with : Levels of Emotional Life; Durability, Amplitude and Depth of Emotions; and The Specific and Properly Differential Character of Depth of Emotions. In two chapters entitled "Essential Structure of Willing" and "Willing in Its Relationship with the Objective Field of Emotions", Rubert y Candau reports his views on the volitional faculty as a transforming activity, its two-fold modality of longing and of transforming activity, and the connections of value, tendency, object and goal in M. Scheler's theory. After these considerations the work passes to a study of the relationship of willing to environment wherein are to be found statements about the nature of environment; environment and vital interests; and psychic disposition , intention and purpose. Chapters Six, Seven and Eight are studies entitled: The Ultimate and Most General Laws of Valus; The Objective Nature of the Suprema Laws of Values; and Value and Duty. Although there can be discovered in this section a tendency toward an integration of the common doctrines of the Value-Theory into a unified, common corpus, still...