Value Systems: The Moral and Eudaemonic Components by John E. Guendling (review)

388 BOOK REVIEWS Value Systems: The Moral and Eudaemonic Components. By John E. Guendling. Chicago: Adams Press, 1973. Pp. 151. In this privately published work John Guendling has 1!-ttempted to integrate conceptions from sociology, economics, and political science into a review of the two traditionally basic value systems "the right " and the " good " or in other language " doing things out of duty " in contrast to "doing things for a pay-off." In the first of his four essays, "Morality and the Game of Life," he develops problems of moral discourse in the context of the analogy of life as a game. Many o~ his sentences illuminate subtle implications of this age-old and widely employed image. His writing indicates wide familiarity with current research and documentation in this area of inquiry as well as in the field of game-theory. In essay II, "Changing Games: A Theory of Societal Development," the author offers a metatheory and a theory as a set of steps to be followed in any attempt to modify a social structure. His third essay, "Casuistry, Explication and Saving the Appearances," reviews the proposition that might makes right under the light of diverse rubrics drawn and formulated from political theory. It is in his fourth essay, "Toward a Socialist Theory of Morality," that the argument of the book reaches its clearest and most explicit proposal. By an application of the economic polarity of scarcity and abundance he advocates creativity as present in a socialistic political and economic system to beget cooperation among men for the welfare of the disadvantaged. Whereas monopolistic capitalism maintains structures through the exploitation involved in deprivation, socialism has the potential of bringing a more equitable distribution of goods by cooperative contributions by members of the society. The author does not succeed in convincing the reader because he neglects to provide any detailed suggestions about how the change and redistribution of goods would come about. The aim of this monograph which started out as an elucidation of the distinction between "fair " and " successful " became increasingly confused as the discussion proceeded through the four essays. The style burdens the reader, demanding much effort for a modicum of light. It is hard to select what audience he intends to address by his writing. The verbal creations and the extended sentences of Mr. Guendling do not help to advance the insights in the discussion toward this necessary and useful goal of integration of thoughts from the behavioral sciences with moral theory. Reading numerous pages for the occasional unit of understanding is a higher price than one should be expected to pay for intellectual exercise. GEoRGE L. CoNcORDIA, O.P. ProvidenctJ College Providence, Rhode Island ...