-
Books Received
- Journal of the History of Philosophy
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 30, Number 4, October 1992
- pp. 631-635
- 10.1353/hph.1992.0080
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
BOOKS RECEIVED 631 antecedent causation or the inheritance of the past into the present. In this connection he treats Lewis S. Ford's "compositional analysis" of Whitehead's writings, showing, for instance, that Nobo has identified an early theory that was only covered over in the later writings, not erased. Finally, Lucas sets Whitehead's theory back into the context of natural science in which Whitehead himself viewed it. He shows that, without attempting to maintain a static commitment to Whitehead's physical theories of the i9~os and i93os, Whitehead 's approach can be developed so as to contribute to the current conversation in philosophy of nature. The upshot of Lucas's argument in this book is that, viewed in historical perspective , Whitehead was not out of the intellectual mainstream of the twentieth century, but on the contrary engaged many of its central issues in imaginative and creative ways. Often, Whitehead's ideas were anticipations (not hints but usually carefully constructed and defended theories) of positions taken by subsequent thinkers within philosophic movements that studiously ignore Whitehead. Lucas has brought to this study meticulous scholarship and deep learning from a variety of fields, from physics to theology to social theory. By setting the discussion within the context of twentieth-century philosophy, his study differs from Lewis S. Ford's fine The Emergence of Whitehead's Metaphysics, which is wholly internal to Whitehead . It differs from standard commentaries such as those by Christian, Leclerc, Johnson , Kraus, and Lowe also by placing Whitehead in his historical setting. It differs finally from Lowe's own biography of Whitehead by virtue of its deep philosophic acumen. Though relatively brief, Lucas's book is the definitive historical study of Whitehead to date, superb in textual analysis, historical analysis, and critical philosophy. ROBERT CUMMINGS NEVILLE Boston University BOOKS RECEIVED Allen, Michael J. B., editor. Icastes:Marsilio Ficino's Interpretation of Plato's "Sophist." Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. Pp. x + 317. Cloth, $4o.oo. Angouivent, Anne-Laure. Hobbesoulacrisede l'~tatbaroque.Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 199a. Pp. 256. Paper, FF 135.oo. Appiah, Kwame Anthony. In My Father'sHouse: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, t99~. Pp. xi + 2~5. Cloth, $~9-95Armour , Leslie. Being and Idea: Developmentsof Some Themesin Spinoza and Hegel. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 199~. Pp. xxii + 185. Paper, DM 39.8o. Barth, Bernhard. Schellings Philosophie der Kunst: G6ttliche Imagination und Aesthetisehe Einbildungskraft. Munich: Karl Alber, 199a. Pp. 254-Paper, DM 68.oo. Bell,Jr., Albert A. Resourcesin AncientPhilosophy:An AnnotatedBibliographyofScholarshipinEnglish, x695-t989. Metuchen, NJ: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 199x. Pp. xvii + 799. Board, $79.5o. Benson, Hugh H., editor. Essayson the Philosophyof Socrates. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. Pp. xv + 361. Paper, NP. 63~ JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY 30:4 OCTOBER 1992 Blanchette, Oliva. The Perfection ofthe UniverseAccording toAquinas: A TeleologicalCosmology.University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 1992. Pp. xvii + 344. Cloth, $35.o0. Blumenthal, Henry, and Howard Robinson, editors. Aristotle and the Later Tradition. Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1991. Pp. x + 277. Cloth, $65.oo. Bos, E. P. and P. A. Meijer, editors. On Proclus and His Influence in Medieval Philosophy.Leiden: E.J. Brill, x992. Pp. vi + 206. Cloth, $57.25. Brumbaugh, Robert S. Western PhilosophicSystemsand Their CyclicTransformations. Carbondale, IL: Southern IllinoisUniversityPress, 1992. Pp. xvi + 156.Cloth, $29.95. Cantin, Serge. Le Philosophe et le d~ni du politique: Marx, Henry, Platon. Quebec: Les Presses de L'Universit~ Laval, 1992. Pp. xviii + 3ol. Paper, $39.0o. Carabelli, Giancarlo. Ilfilosofo sull'altalena. Ferrara: Universita degli Studi di Ferrara, 1991. Pp. xiv + 19o. Paper, NP. Carr, Karen L. The Banalization of Nihilism: Twentieth-Century Responses to Meaninglessness. Albany: State Universityof New York Press, 1992.Pp. ix + 196. Paper, NP. Carruthers, Peter. Human Knowledge and Human Nature: A New Introduction to the Ancient Debate. New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1992. Pp. 199. Cloth, $55.oo. Cascardi, AnthonyJ. The Subject ofModernity. New York: Cambridge University Press, t992. Pp. x + 316. Cloth, $49.95. Paper, $16.95. Cattepeol, Jan. D~imonieund GeseUschaft: Soren Kierkegaard al~ Sozialkritiker und Kommunikationstheoretiker . Frieberg: Verlag Karl Alber, t999. Pp. 319. Board, DM 76.o0. Chiesa, Curzio. S~miosis-Signes-Symboles:Introduction aux...