A Century of Moral Philosophy by W. D. Hudson (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 145 much as possible but are refused the sacramental institution to the ministry which goes with this " (p. 85) . He questions whether this is sound theological development, for he sees that " it maintains the exaggerated sacral view of the priesthood ...." It can be argued on the basis of sacramental theology that what one could call a "refusal of ordination" is, in fact, a way to emphasize the theology and reality of baptism where a complementarity of community members together take joint responsibility for building up the body of Christ. Not all have to be ordained, just as not all have the same function, gift, or charism. In fact, an exaggerated view of the priesthood in certain circumstances may well be a reason for limiting the number of ordinations. Ordination should never replace the primary locus of communal identity, ministry, and responsibility -baptism. Despite the critical comments we have made, this book is a helpful contribution to the expanding literature on the church's tradition of ministry . Because it concerns the ordained ministry it would be especially helpful for those ordained, for candidates for ordination, and for use in courses on the theology of ministry. It d.oes raise many important questions about ordination today, and it challenges assumptions about its present shape based on the church's past. In this way it also offers a challenge for its shape in the future. It is an appropriate contribution from the pen of one who intended to challenge and evaluate, rather than offer " a complete theology of the ministry." Fordham University Bronx, New York KEVIN w. IRWIN A Century of Moral Philosophy. By W. D. HUDSON. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980. Pp. 198. $18.95. Hudson, a Reader in Moral Philosophy at the University of Exeter, offers us a concise, clear, and readable account of the course of British moral philosophy over the last hundred years. His work is not encyclopedic but seeks rather "to trace what seems to me to be the most important thread of argument and counter-argument in this branch of philosophy" (p. ii). In eight chapters,, Hudson traces the development 9f metaethical argument with major stress on two schools of thought, intuitionism and utilitarianism. He presents the basic arguments made by the various philosophers, details the objections offered by their critics, and often gives his own opinion as to the strengths and weaknesses of the different positions. The first chapter presents the intuitionism and utilitarianism of one 146 BOOK REVIEWS hundred years ago. Intuitionism emphasizes that "moral properties are objectively real and intrinsic to the actions or states of affairs which they characterise." (p. ~). Human beings have a faculty, referred to as conscience , which enables them directly to discern what is right and what is wrong. A very important exponent of the intuitionist position was William Whewell of Cambridge, who argued that this moral faculty was reason and who offered significant criticisms of utilitarianism. On the other hand, utilitarians such as Jeremy Bentham and J. S. Mill sought to establish an objective and external standard of morality with their principle of utility. "Their utility principle laid it down that, if an action brings about in sum more pleasure than pain, its moral value is positive; if more pain than pleasure, negative; and if an equal quantity of both, neutral" (p. 10). Their principles contrast significantly with those of Whewell and the other intuitionists. The following chapter exposes and analyzes Henry Sidgwick's attempt to forge a union between these two disparate positions. On the basis of both logical and psychological arguments, Sidgwick seeks to show that utilitarianism answers the intuitionists' question of what is good while intuitionism can justify the utilitarians' principle that we ought to aim at general happiness. Sidgwick's method, however, was not without its problems and led him into a quandary regarding practical reason. Yet "he raised many of the questions which were to preoccupy moral philosophers during the next hundred years" (p. ~4) . Two other lines of thought of the period· are represented by Sidgwick's contemporaries T. H. Green and Herbert Spencer. Green presented a Hegelian point of view and thought that to understand morality a person...