The Steps of Humility by Bernard (review)

BOQK REVIEWS 891 when taken together can they reveal reality. What physics talks of is not the cosmos; it is a " message of the cosmos." As long as physics is considered as the true and the only approach to reality, reality will elude man's attempts to get hold of it. This is, of course, a fragmentary and very incomplete rendering of these lectures. One wonders how far these ideas mirror truly what the Philosopher would have thought had he known modern science. No doubt the criticisms and the views he opposes to the modern conception are largely justified. No doubt also the modern scientist will not know what to do with a notion like " density of being "; you cannot measure it, therefore it has no meaning. But this is just the point of " Aristotle "; there is more meaning in reality than the statements of the physicist reveal, and this other meaning is even more meaningful, as it were, than the formulae of physics, however well demonstrated by experiment. " Aristotle " voices, as in fact all true philosophy must, the basic ideas of mankind, clarifying and purifying what commonsense dimly apprehends. Whether or not one agrees with Dr. Riezler in all points, there is nothing to lessen the value and importance of his work. If nothing else, the book is exceedingly provocative. It ought to be read carefully by anyone interested in philosophy of nature. If not too prejudiced either by a blind belief in the omnipotence of science or by an unrealized or only half-realized metaphysics, the scientist too may profit by its study. The Schoolman will find many ideas he is accustomed to cherish and to see ignored by tl!.e moderni. He will also discover some points with which he cannot but disagree. There is a note on the analogia entia as conceived by Aquinas which seems to imply some misinterpretation of this idea. But, the note is so brief that this reviewer is not quite sure that he understood the author's meaning. Whatever one may find objectionable in this work as a whole, it is interesting, provocative and definitely worth reading. If it receives the attention it deserves, it may start some fruitful discussion. RUDOLF ALLERS The Steps of Humility. By BERNARD, Abbot of Clairvaux. Translated, with Introduction and Notes, as a study of his Epistemology by George B. Burch. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1940. Pp. xi+ ~87, with index. $3.00. From the viewpoint of the reviewer this work naturally falls into three parts: the Latin text of Bernard's work, the translation, and the introduction and notes. The text is that of Dom Mabillon; the translation is the author's own. With neither can we have any quarrel; the translation is especially praiseworthy for it captures the spirit of the Latin original in a remarkable manner. 392 BOOK REVIEWS We cannot be as enthusiastic about the introduction and notes. The introduction especially is an ambitious piece of research on Bernard's spiritual doctrine. Practically all of the saint's works are quoted and there is an obvious attempt to present his thought objectively. But here, and especially in the notes, Mr. Burch betrays a lack of real appreciation for Bernard's thought which he interprets in terms of modern philosophy, in particular, Kantian philosophy. Two examples will suffice. In the introduction (pp. 88-84), after exposing Bernard's thought on the various types of consideration, the author concludes: " There are, then, including the subdivisions, six kinds of consideration . These are identical with the six ' ways of knowing ' of modem philosophy: dispensative consideration is ' pragmatism '; estimative consideration of visible things is ' empiricism '; estimative consideration of invisible things by opinion is ' scepticism '; that by faith is ' authoritarianism '; that by understanding is ' rationalism '; speculative consideration is ' mysticism.' " The second example is more conclusive of the author's ignorance of Bernard's doctrine, as well as of the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, which Bernard certainly held. In the notes (p. 250), the author says: "Ultimate reality, proximate reality, and appearance are absolutely one, because they are identical, being the same thing considered from different points of view. Yet they are absolutely three, because they are...