Personal Mental Hygiene By Dom Verner Moore, M.D. (review)

130BOOK REVIEWS author discusses the truth-value, essence, and intentional entity of external sensation (pp. 38-70) immediately after his exposition of the external senses and their functions. Yet much of the discussion refers rather to "perception" than to "sensation" strictly as such; and at times items pertaining to the internal senses are brought into the argument, although the student presumably is still unacquainted with the internal senses and their functions. There is such a close connection between external and internal sensation and perception, that the entire question should have been delayed until all the facts of sensory life, both external and internal, had been explained and discussed. Similarly, in the section devoted to the internal senses, sensory consciousness is given first place (p. 76ff.) and treated as if it were a distinct internal sense. Consciousness, however, is a phenomenon which accompanies all sense activity, whether internal or external. Every sense is a medium of "knowledge" in some form or other, and we cannot "know" anything without becoming aware or "conscious" of it. The author himself admits this (p. 76-77). He should, therefore, have waited with the discussion of sensory consciousness until all the facts of sensitivity, both external and internal, had been brought to the knowledge of the student. As it is, too many factual items are introduced here (e.g., imagination, memory, Ego, etc.) which belong to later sections. This must be confusing to the student. The Latin is fluent and relatively clear. To study a difficult subject through the medium of a foreign language, naturally places a double burden on the seminarian. Hence, a clear Latin text is a boon. Since, however , the student will always discuss philosophical problems in the vernacular, it would have been both advantageous and advisable if the author had made more extensive use of the English equivalents of technical terms by including them parenthetically in the text. All in all, however, Father Esser's work is an excellent textbook for our seminaries. It is complete, it is thorough, it is scholarly. C. N. Bittle, O.F.M. Cap. Milwaukee, Wis. Personal Mental Hygiene. By Dom Verner Moore, M.D. (New York: Grune and Stratton, 1944. Pp. 331.) Within this quarter of a century attempts have been made to sift the chaff from the wheat of psychoanalysis. Further efforts have been directed to a synthesis of the results with traditional Catholic learning. Among the scholars engaged in these processes is Dr. Moore, whose latest book, reflecting his interest in both these endeavors, is another of the fruits of his long and successful contact with the theories and practices of psychology and psychiatry. This book follows Dr. Moore's well-known volume on The Nature and Treatment of Mental Disorders. A large portion of its matter is the amplification and logical development of much that was established in his previous work. Its new content is formed for the most part by the synthesis of Christian asceticism with sound principles of mental hygiene. While this volume may well serve as a textbook, it was primarily intended for individual reading. Its conversational style makes it a book BOOK REVIEWS131 both easy and pleasant to peruse. It takes the reader into the inner recesses of the mind and shows him the motivating factors of human conduct. It points out to him the principles and ideals which must regulate human life if man is to be successful, healthy and happy. Excellent illustrations of these facts are given by citations of clinical cases and the lives of various historical and literary personalities. Among its chapters there are some which have more than a personalhygiene value. Spiritual directors will find material especially helpful to them in Chapter IV which discusses anxiety and scrupulosity. Chapters X to XV, which treat of mental hygiene in the home, will be of particular interest and value to parents. For those teaching in the grades, Chapter XVI, which treats of the application of mental hygiene in the school, will be useful. The student of English literature will find interesting psychological studies of the poets — D. G. Rossetti, Swinburne, Shelley and Kilmer in the final chapters. To those cognizant of the defects and inherent limitations...