Philosophical Analysis: a Collection of Essays ed. by Max Black (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 169 that he would like his works read in their order of publication. This seems to be also Dr. Wild's view (Op. cit., p. 489): "If Berkeley's thought as a whole is to be comprehended it must be conceived as a development. Without a sense of the direction of his reflections, they dissolve into a chaos of separate ' positions.' " It seems futile, therefore, and peevish to use single texts to settle controversies, which, for better or worse, have been inherited from the outspoken and prolific Bishop. But an important step towards getting a grasp on his thought is certainly a knowledge of his life and Dr. Luce's contribution on this score deserves high praise. It is a necessary adjunct to the immense labor which he and Professor Jessop, of University College, Hull, have undertaken in bringing out a new and complete edition of Berkeley's writings. It is the first in the Library of British Philosophers and will undoubtedly replace Fraser's incomplete four-volume work (Oxford, 1901). When finished, it will comprise nine volumes, with a general index, and constitute a fitting memorial to the eighteenth century philosopher, writer, scientist, missionary, controversialist and churchman. It will likewise bear tribute to the well-known Berkeleian scholars who are its editors and to the publishers who are fabricating the volumes of good quality white paper, beautifully printed and substantially bound. Material that has come to light since Fraser's time is included and, contrary to his work, Professors Luce and Jessop try to give the latest of Berkeley's own revisions, citing' departures from earlier editions and manuscript variants in footnotes. There is no question about the scholarship, devotion and craftsmanship which are going into this project on the part of both editors and publishers. Still it is unlikely to produce a sudden and dramatic reevaluation of Berkeley. It will certainly make him more available and along with the valuable introductory essays and technical apparatus will facilitate an estimation of Berkeley· based not on what his critics have left of him' but on the literary remains he left of himself. If they lack the voice that once could be raised to "tremendous thunder," they are still more likely to give us the true Berkeley than what appears in the tortured images of historians. Catholic Univeraity of America, Washington, D. C. JosEPH B. McALLISTER Philosophical Analysis: a CoUection of Essays. Edited by MAx BLAcK. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1950. Pp. 429. $5.00. In both the Preface and the Introduction to this volume of essays, the editor, Mr. Max Black, stresses the fact that the contributors were not called upon to provide anything like a formal definition of " philosophical 170 BOOK REVIEWS analysis " or even argument in its defense. Instead, their assignment was to offer mere specimens of such analysis. And specimens there are to the number of no less than 17, treating somewhat exhaustingly of all sorts of random topics in the fields of ethics, logic, aesthetics, epistemology, etc. However, despite the self-denying ordinance of the editor and the contributors , it is hard for either reviewer or reader not to keep asking," Just what is this analysis of which so many supposedly impressive specimens are here exhibited? " Indeed, such curiosity is but whetted by the opening sentence of the Introduction, where the editor declares that " The essays which follow might provide an ' ostensive definition ' of 'philosophical analysis.'" But having whetted our curiosity, Mr. Black does little to satisfy it, indeed, one gets the rather uneasy feeling that it is here the blind who are about to lead the blind. At any rate, under the circumstances the reviewer feels justified in attempting something that may perhaps be unwise and even unfair. For since its proponents can't describe it but will only point to it, perhaps one might try to understand this strange phenomenon of philosophical analysis in terms of an alien terminology and set of ideas. Thus, is not the contemporary analyst one who considers that the business of philosophy is to analyze not being, but meaning? That is to say, he concentrates his attention not on tl;llngs, but rather on linguistic and logical...