Philosophies de la Cité ed. by Yvon LaFrance (review)

786 BOOK REVIEWS This "Story of Jesus the Living One" is definitely a difficult book. It bespeaks more than ordinary erudition and much scholarly research and criticism, and it demands that the reader be ever-watchful to make valuejudgments on countless details and, more importantly, on the story as a whole. Not many a" common reader," for whom the book is meant, may carry away from its painstaking study all the breadth and depth of learning and faith to which it is an eloquent witness. One cannot help being struck by the unfailing serenity with which the author faces both the global problem of Christology (who is this Jesus the Christ?) and the countless little problems of literary and historical criticism involved. What is the secret of the overall sound judgment and choice which a professional theologian is making from the expert scholarly work of a host of exegetes? (He quotes a saying of Congar: " I respect and consult unceasingly the science of the exegetes, but I challenge their magisterium.") Throughout this volume one senses the felicitous marriage of brain and heart, scholarship and faith, both of these operative and " all there " throughout the book in an uncommon degree. The author, both believing and critical, has an insight all his own into the problem that is at the core of his study: the present-day crisis in Christology and the answer to this crisis, His very example is part of the answer. Readers who can spare the effort and time to work through his witness to Christ and through the many details of his story may come to share his insight in varying degrees. And they may be taken up by the experience in spite of the tough going. They will hope that Schillebeeckx's second volume, his new Christology, may not be long in coming. St. Albert's College Ranchi, India P. DE LETTER, s. J. Philosophies de la Cite. Edited by YvoN LAFRANCE. Montreal: Les Editions Bellarmin, 1974. Pp. fl89. Paper. $5.00. This third volume in the series, " L'Univers de la Philosophie," is a collection of brief expository articles by eleven professors at universities in Montreal and Ottawa. Rather than being summaries, critiques, or commentaries , the articles serve as prologues to the study of the political philosophers themselves and syntheses of their thought. In the editor's words, the intent was to bring together the great moments in the history of political philosophy which " have exercised a decisive influence both on our conceptions of the political society (" la chose publique ") and on our own social and political institutions.... In this way we believe that BOOK REVIEWS 787 these studies will be useful not only to professors and students but also to that whole lay group which is taking more and more interest in the future of our political institutions and in the destiny of our modem societies." The articles are unevenly documented, but all conclude with a suggested reading list. The last two articles, both on contemporary political philosophers, are by far the longest and most detailed. They suggest the editorial emphasis upon present-day problems and the tendency to view the history of political philosophy in light of today, rather than vice versa. For some readers this trace of historicism may limit the value of the work. The two contemporary articles present the reader with an alternative choice of philosophies based upon realism and idealism, and corresponding assessments of the state. The first of these, "Jacques Maritain: elements d'une politique humaniste," by Y. Filippini, is oriented more toward personalism than Thomism. Drawing upon 13 of Maritain's works (principally Man and the State), Professor Filippini shows his thought to be "modest " and radical " at the same time. The author regards these as the most significant of Maritain's conclusions: Political philosophy is essentially ethical and realist; political society is both natural and reasonable; the state is society's instrument for securing the common good as well as personal rights; the new democracy must be both pluralist and theistic. Professor Filippini acknowledges the theological ground upon which Maritain's philosophy is based. The second contemporary article, and the final one in the collection, is "La...