Family and Civilization by Carle C. Zimmerman, The Family of Tomorrow by Carle C. Zimmerman (review)

286 BOOK REVIEWS to the apostolate have also in this period a greater facility to act in the service of God, to teach, direct, and organize works" (p. 70). Pages which deserve careful reading in view of current discussion of the relativt: merits of the " purely contemplative " and of the " mixed " life are those in which the author treats of the influence of infused contemplation on the perfect apostolic life and the life of reparation (pp. 489-510). Using St. Thomas' principle that the end of the apostolic life is contemplari et contemplata aliis tradere, he defines his terms with unmistakable precision and clears the air of the not infrequent confusion occasioned by those who treat contemplation as a means to action rather than as its "eminent cause." Hence those who overstress apostolic activity to the detriment of contemplation are reminded that " there is nothing more sublime on earth than union with God through contemplation and love." And those who overstress the merit of a " purely contemplative " life come face to face with the wise Thomistic thought that it is better to illuminate than simply to be enlightened. It is impossible in any review to suggest the wealth of profound spiritual guidance available to souls in a work of this calibre. If true knowledge of the things of God is a matter of integration and unification, then suffice it to say that we owe a debt of gratitude to God who inspired Father Garrigou-Lagrange to produce this great synthesis of spiritual doctrine and guided Sister M. Timothea Doyle, 0. P. in the exacting labors of her competent translation. St. Mary's Monastery, Dunkirk, N. Y. AuGUSTINE P. HENNESSY, C. P. Family and Civilization. By CARLE C. ZIMMERMAN. New York: Harper & Bros., 1947. Pp. 839, with index. $6.00. The Family of Tomorrow. By CARLE C. ZIMMERMAN. New York: Harper & Bros., 1949. Pp. ~67, with index. $3.50. Known earlier for studies in rural sociology, Professor Zimmerman of Harvard wrote his first book in the sociology of the family: Family and Society, in 1935, in collaboration with M. E. Fri!Jllpton. This work was distinguished by the presentation of the theories of the outstanding nineteenth century Catholic sociologist Le Play, whose influence is evident in the types, and familism ideas, of these two later volumes. Family and Civilization strikes a new and welcome note in the long list of recent publications for college " marriage and family " courses. The interest is clearly sociological rather than the giving of advice on matrimonial behavior, which distinguishes so many current works. The author'<~ BOOK REVIEWS 287 purpose is to provide an analysis of the various family systems in western civilization from early beginnings to the present day, with an eye to predicting the family type of tomorrow. Having demolished in the first few chapters the earlier theories of the evolution of the family, unilinear and otherwise, most of which have not, in any event, been held by scholars within recent years, Zimmerman proceeds to advance a theory of his own. This is, that his extensive study of history and literature from early Greek civilization to the present day shows the western family system to have moved in cycles through three family types: the trustee family, the domestic family, the atomistic family. The idea of cyclical change in terms of three is no novelty to the philosopher or sociologist; Zimmerman's types resemble respectively LePlay's patriarchal, quasipatriarchal, and and individualistic categories, and were graphically portrayed in their modern form in the July ~6, 1948 issue of Life; but his sequence of types seems to be wholly original. In the trustee type there is extensive control over the individual by the family, which assumes much of the responsibility for the individual's guidance and protection now taken over by the state and public agencies. The family is considered perpetual, family solidarity is important, the head of the family receives authority as family head, not as of personal right. In time, this type, in Zimmerman's theory, develops into the domestic family, the middle type, where the trustee family's functions are considerably abbreviated or changed, where members have a certain amount of mobility and freedom though at least a minimum of familism or family influence remains over the individual. The atomistic family is the type in which the individual is very largely freed from the family; it is " essentially the one found in societies where law and custom bring the individual, as far as possible, out from under the couvert, the manus, the potestas of the family and make him the agent of the government, the one responsible directly to the law, and bound least to family obligations" (p. 187). Zimmerman ends his Family and Civilization with the idea that the decay of family life which he sees in our modern civilization can only be averted by "scholarship and teaching." He says: "There is a greater disparity between the actual, documented, historical truth and the theories taught in the family sociology courses, than, exists in any other scientific field," and he concludes that the answer to this great family social problem is to recreate the conception of familism and its basic meaning to society not by legal means but by the voluntary " making of familism and childbearing the primary social duties of the citizen. . . . The solution will prove to be not in fides alone but in the strong union of proles-fideschildren and familism" (p. 810). Catholics will immediately miss the important Sacramentum! There is a vast display of erudition in both books l).nder review. Yet it is 288 BOOK REVIEWS not always well organized, nor does one get from these works a clear understanding of the reasons for Zimmerman's conclusions. At times he seems very confused, and the amateurish illustrations by his daughter in the second work, The Family of Tomorrow, do not add any clarification to his strange mixture of erudition and prophecy. The purpose of The Family of Tomorrow is to " seek t.o show tomorrow 's family by explaining the immanent principle between family and civilization and by giving the backgrounds and thoughts of prominent leaders who have contributed most to the understanding of the process and its control " (p. x) . The " great men " singled out by Zimmerman as instrumental in shaping our family system are Augustus, Livia his wife, Theodora the wife of Justinian, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Jovinianus the monk, Erasmus, Luther, and Milton. Erasmus is given especial importance as having initiated our modern family system (p. 179) • The decay of family systems is said to be demonstrated from the writings of Jerome, Justinian, Erasmus etc., and the experience of the past shows the direction of the trends of today. Yet Zimmerman thinks that precisely because of the history of the past we do not have to drift. Just as his nine great leaders were largely responsible for the development of family influence and organization, so we in our time can re-create and impress family value·systems. We cannot make people civilized, he says, but we can tell them how to make themselves civilized. By this he means especially the reintroduction of familism. He ends The Family of Tomorrow with a plea for the financing of an American Family Institute, both by large contributions from the well-to-do and by small contributions from the " many who believe in the family but who, possibly because they have families to raise, can not give in large amounts " (p. i45) . One cannot always agree with what Zimmerman says in his somewhat confused manner, but Catholics will welcome his attempt to understand Catholic family thought in both books, and they will wholeheartedly endorse any foundation formed for the purpose of understanding trends in family· life and considering methods of helping to establish worthwhile family aids of all kinds. Sociologists will raise eyebrows at many points, including such terms as Jovinian's and Milton's "Family Sociology." Cultural determinists will be opposed to any idea of the possibility of consciously turning trends in any direction which might seem desirable, but those whose belief in man's intelligence and free will causes them to be less wedded to a pessimistic mechanistic viewpoint will see the good points in Zimmerman's theories, even though they will hardly subscribe to all that he seems to be trying to say. Trinity College, Wtuhington, D. C. EVA J. Ross ...