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HUMANITIES 421 unhelpfully equating it with the term "worth wanting~'-unhelpfully, since the word "worth" is as much in need of explanation as the term "desirable"). Be that as it may, the wants of the agent are said to con· stitute the basis of his prudential practical reasoning (p. 30), and it is this which distinguishes it from moral practical reasoning, the basis of which, apparently, is "all wants of all agents." (p. 86) How the wants of other agents as well as one's self can become the basis of practical reasoning, is, unfortunately, a problem the solution of which is only hinted at in the statement that "there is genuine concern for others, genuine consideration of their wants as reasons for acting." (p. 90) An extended reference to Hume at this point would have been highly illuminating, but Gauthier mentions Hume only once in passing (p. 140), and then in a way which shows he misunderstands him. There are some stimulating, and often enlightening, discussions of advice and other imperatives, appraisal of advice, appraisal of moral counsel, and of the relations between the terms "duty" and "obligation," but on the whole the general reader and the beginning st.udent are not likely to find this book helpful in gaining an understanding of moral philosophy. (PETER CLASSEN) A translation introduces a writer, his work, and his historical period to a much wider audience. The importance of the undertaking is proportional to the significance of the original work Na~ir al-Din 'fusi, whose work The Nasirean Ethics was translated from the Persian by G. M. Wickens (London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd. [1964], pp. 352. 45s.) lived and worked during one of the most important periods of Muslim history-the end of the "Arab caliphate" and the beginning of Mongol rule in 1258. 'fusi himself assisted in shaping the history of this period and was responsible perhaps more than any other person in maintaining the continuity of the history of mediaeval Islam following the Mongol onslaught. There is as yet no serious study in any language of the man and his achievements. Mr. Wickens' introduction will serve as a convenient point of departure for such a study. While the major part of the present work (pp. 33-149) is on ethics, that ·is to say, on man as an individual, it contains a smaller section (pp. 151-84) on economics, that is, on man and his household, and a longer section (pp. 185-260) on politics, that is, on man and his community. 422 LETTERS IN CANADA: 1965 In·writing 'this.work 'J'lisi had at his disposal the rich tradition of pre-Islamic Arab virtues, more than six centuries of Islam,, Persian, and Indian thought woven into several "mirror books," the great translations of Greek philosophy and commentaries on them by Muslim thinkers, and finally the great assimilation of all this into the "body ethic" of Islam by al-Ghazzali. His major debt appears to have been to Ibn Miskawayh whose work ·on ethics was announced to appear in translation a few years ago. Mr. Wickens, who is an oriental scholar of long standing, is at home in both Arabic and Persian, knowledge of the two languages being in this particular case of vital importance inasmuch as the classical Persian .of 'fusi's period is loaded with Arabicisms and learned Arabic phraseology . The accuracy of the translation cannot be criticized except perhaps by the most erudite researcher. But here Mr. Wickens has quoted in his notes, in transcribed Persian, all the possible cases which may call for variations in 'translation or interpretation. He has also used an elaborate but essentially simple system of cross-references in order to insure the , consistent meaning of terms and the exact rendering of definitionsa requirement for a work on philosophy. Translations of important Muslim mediaeval texts (and 'fiisi's Ethics is surely one) are so few that readers are grateful to Mr. Wickens for this accomplishment. The translation will be of great benefit to students of Islamic thought and culture and to those interested in mediaeval philosophy and the role the Muslims played in bridging Greek philosophy with that of Christian mediaeval philosophy. Historians...

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