Robert H. Springer

Book Review: Christian Biopolitics: A Credo and Strategy for the FutureChristian Biopolitics: A Credo and Strategy For the Future By CauthenKenneth. New York: Abingdon, 1971. Pp. 159.

impressionistic. But the most serious objection to S.s project is that, somewhat ironically, he implicitly wants to resacralize all of ethical reasoning. This desire arises from two sources. First, because of his belief that every ethos ultimately rests on some sort of religious credo, there can be no adequate consideration of fundamental ethical questions outside the theological framework. S. relies entirely on a religiously oriented sociology of knowledge and on theology. His approach needs to be supplemented by a philosophical anthropology if it is to avoid making ethics a strictly functional and extrinsic aspect of human existence. Second, S. conceives of religious belief or credo as a more or less self-contained system of symbols. From these symbols he believes that a social ideology can be constructed. This approach is reminiscent of the theology based almost exclusively on propositions or dogmatic statements. S. comes close to moving beyond this approach in his treatment of the relationship between the Trinity and the urban ethos, but a distinct note of what might be called symbolic rationalism persists. But despite these criticisms this is a valuable book. It is especially timely in its attempt to relate a genuinely theological ethic to the categories of modern social analysis.

4.00.

The six months under review are promising ones for pliers of the ethical trade, both general practitioners and specialists. There is something for everybody. For the more theoretically inclined, the first two sections treat social consciousness in ethics, political theology, and the roles in Christian ethics of responsibility, experience, and the social sciences. For those more down to earth, subsequent sections cover celibacy, priesthood, abortion, and medical ethics.

Notes on Moral Theology: September, 1970-March, 1971:

After a glance at the concept of pastoral theology and the relation of moral and dogma, this survey will look at length into peace and war, and abortion and the law. Next, development in the moral analysis of sterilization and artificial insemination will be briefly assessed. Finally, some observations on the race question will be presented. Most of these pages are given over to the peace and abortion issues, on which the published material has been extensive.

Current Theology Notes on Moral Theology: July, 1969-March, 1970

framework and concludes his analysis with an account of mans full task in this world. This contexting of a treatment of God in the full range of human aims is a major point worked out here. The detailed analyses raise many issues which will deepen our appreciation of human action. For instance, the author is well aware from reading Hartmann, Scheler, and other axiologists that he cannot simply equate value and the good. Nevertheless, he suggests that there may be more resources in the theory of the good for treating some contemporary aspects of value theory than is usually realized. Again, the suggestion is made that knowledge of the good by way of connatural inclination is nothing esoteric but is by far the most ordinary, yet least examined, source of our knowledge of the good. In this connection, de Finance also breaks out of the whirlpool of articles on the natural desire of God by using the theme of the human ideal. Gods presence introduces into me a principle of interior tension and selfsurpassing, out of which comes my ideal for the life of action. The aim of theistic analysis is to show that in some respect my human ideal is also my personal mode of being open to the personal fulness of God. One final indication that this book is well balanced, as well as aware of contemporary tendencies, is found in its treatment of negation. Somehow, de Finance has managed to recognize the great importance of negative aspects in human action, without himself becoming mesmerized by the current fashion of dialectical negativity. He makes a generous but sober criticism of Hegel on the metaphysical grounds of the meaning of finite beings, and of Sartre on the phenomenological and metaphysical grounds of the relation of being and negation in human awareness. Looking at all this from an American standpoint, I consider de Finances study of human action to be quite relevant to present philosophical problems. We can all find some common ground for discussion on the terrain of man the agent. What this book does is to situate the study of action in a context of other aspects of man and to stress the need for using several modes of analysis and inference. Fortunately, there is a project underway now for translating the works of de Finance into English. Thus his ideas will be introduced into the mainstream of philosophical argument here, doubtless with good effect.

Book Review: Dictionary of Moral TheologyDictionary of Moral Theology. Compiled under the direction of Francesco Cardinal Roberti. Edited by PalazziniPietro. Msgr. Translated from the 2nd Italian edition under the direction of YannoneHenry J.. Westminster, Md.: Newman, 1962. Pp. xxxvii + 1352.

The discussion of demographic trends and their relation to social and economic development is fundamentally in accord with current thinking of demographers and economists. The few technical errors (e.g., on mortality declines as the cause of aging of populations) do not seriously detract from its usefulness. Poor or unclear translations are frequent enough to suggest that anyone wishing to study closely the thoughts of Fr. de Lestapis should go to the original. In all, however, this is a welcome addition to the relatively small corpus of Catholic writing on population and human fertility. It should help substantially to advance our thinking on these matters.