Brief Notices

BRIEF NOTICES Ta'lim al-Muta'allim-Tariq at-Ta'allum. By Az-ZARNUJI. (Instruction of the Student: The Method of Learning. Trans. by G. E. VON GRUNEBAUM and T. M. ABEL.) New York: King's Crown Press, 1947. Pp. 78, with index. $2.00. Heirs of the Prophets. By SAMUEL M. ZWEMER. Chicago: The Moody Press, 1946. Pp. 137. $2.00. From the aspects of missionary work, of our present " one-world " political ambitions, and also with a view to philosophical stimulation, the western world can do well to become more intimately acquainted with the thought and traditions of the orient. The first of these two books, a translation from a medieval Mohammedan author, is an essay in the philosophy and psychology of Moslem education which includes interesting comments on such topics as the nature, purpose, time, and methods of study as well as the moral and intellectual habits of the good student. The difficulty with Mohammedan education, as the westerner reading this book will discover, is too much emphasis on static traditions, studied by mechanical memorizing, and not enough stress on progressive thinking. Until this frozen formalism is melted, the Moslem world is not likely to return, in a sort of Oxford movement, to a rational probing of its roots that would be so salutary in turning the orient, on a large scale, to genuine truth. The second book, written from a practical viewpoint by a man who has spent forty years in missionary work, describes the hierarchy of the Moslem clergy with the thought that, in the Mohammedan world, " the key to understanding of the masses lies in personal friendship with their clergy, the so-called imams, mullahs, and sheikhs." (p. 8) This little book not only describes the status of official personnel in Mohammedanism but includes descriptions of Moslem functions and ceremonies that will be of interest to the philosopher of religion. The Red Prussian. By LEOPOLD ScHWARZSCHILD. New York: Scribners, 1947. Pp. 432, with index. $4.00. An ad hominem argument by itself is invalid. But philosophers of action cannot help hut he at least suspected when their own lives exemplify the very negation of the principles which they preach. Such' a philosopher was Karl Marx. Heroized by leftist thinkers, he was in reality a compromiser 127 128 BRIEF NOTICES preaching justice, a pamphleteer posing as an economist, an intriguer condemning intrigue, a parasite declaring for independent action, and an egoist advocating fraternity and equality among men. Such are conclusions that can be drawn from this book, based largely on the famous Marx-Engels correspondence and revealing personal insights into Marx, the man. A Hegelian without Hegel's speculative power, Marx was obsessed by prejudices for which he sought philosophical reasons. His economic theory of history was, for instance, not the fruit of detached meditation but an after-thought which seemed to justify the personal bias, the convenient dream, of an agitator that the present economic system was doomed. In the face of evidence contrary to his theory of history, Marx blithely closed his eyes. This easy-reading translation from the German presents some sporadic insights into Marxian philosophy in addition to the biographical data which ru-e indeed too local in character by reason of the almost complete reliance on the Marx-Engels letters. Had the author ranged desirably beyond this correspondence, he might have provided more material on the relation of Hegelianism and Marx and also on the influences exerted in the final Marxian synthesis by the French and English schools of economics. The New Dictionary of l'sychology. By PHILIP LAWRENCE HARRIMAN. New York; The Philosophical Library, 1947. Pp. 364. $5.00. The Philosophical Library in its dictionary of philosophy was not always happy in its choice of editorial material. Like its predecessor, the present work is not likely to be of great assistance to the specialist, philosopher and psychologist alike. Psychology is, of course, by etymology and by the philosophy of a considerable number of contemporary psychologists, the study of the soul or mind. But " soul," in the present work, is not defined at all, and mind, without being defined, is simply mentioned in a definition of "mind-body problem." Such...