Book Reviews and Notices : Power and Morals. BY MARTIN J. HILLENBRAND. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1949. Pp. xi, 217. $3.25.)

• Date: 01 December 1949
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294900200429
• Published date: 01 December 1949
• Author: Francis G. Wilson
• Subject Matter: Articles

645

Conflicting

Patterns

of

Thought.

BY

KARL

PRIBRAM.

(Washington,

D.

C.:

Public

Affairs

Press.

1949.

Pp.

viii,

176.

$3.25.)

According

to

Dr.

Pribram,

&dquo;nominalistic

reasoning,

based

on

the

principle

of

hypothetical

thinking,

has

been

unique

in

that

it

has

of-

fered

its

adherents

no

prospects

of

finding

absolute

verities&dquo;

(p.

58).

It

is

a

form

of

reasoning

that

declares

reason

to

be

unable

to

tell

us

any-

thing

about

the

choice

of

ultimate

ends,

and

it is

the

only

possible

foun-

dation

of

democracy.

Since

all

views

are

purely

hypothetical,

everyone

has

the

right

to

participate

equally

in

politics

(p.

58).

This

reviewer

would

add

that,

by

implication,

this

principle

means

that

an

individual

may

participate

in

politics

if

he

does

not

believe

that

what

he

believes

is

true

is

really

true.

Alternative

forms

of

thinking,

such

as

the

universal-

istic

(e.

g.,

Christian),

intuitional

or

organismic

(e.

g.,

German),

and

dialectical

(e.

g.,

Marxist)

cannot

be

reconciled

with

democracy.

The

author

argues

that

the

pattern

of

reasoning

determines

social,

political,

and

economic

institutions, establishing

variant

conceptions

of

social

responsibility,

liberty,

the

role

of

reason

in

the

sciences

and

the

arts,

forms

of

economic

planning,

patterns

of

trade,

and

the

emergence

of

war.

The

distinction

between

the

forms

of

reasoning

in

this

analysis

is

so

abrupt

that

it

is

unlikely

that

the

adherents

even

of

secular

empiri-

cism

will

recognize

themselves

in

the

context

of

Dr.

Pribram’s

diagnosis.

Likewise

the

consecutiveness

of

a

form

of

thinking

so

defined,

with

its

realization

in

practice,

is

difhcult

to

see

in

terms

of

historical

example.

This

reviewer

is

inclined

to

say

that

democracy

has

far

more

diverse

historical

and

philosophical

origins

than

the

author

is

willing

to

admit.

While

the

statement

of

Catholic

philosophy

and

political

theory

is

pe-

culiarly

distorted,

it

is

the

author’s

evasive

treatment

of

natural

law

and

rights

in

such

thinkers

as

Locke

and

in

the

emergence

of

democracy

that

shows

us

all

too

clearly

the

inescapable,

non-nominalistic

(as

defined)

origins

of

democratic

freedom.

FRANCIS

G.

WILSON.

University

of

Illinois.

FRANCIS

G.

WILSON.

Power

and

Morals.

BY

MARTIN

J.

HILLENBRAND.

(New

York:

Colum-

bia

University

Press.

1949.

Pp.

xi,

217.

$3.25.)

Mr.

Hillenbrand,

a

foreign

service

officer

of

the

United

States,

pre-

sents

clearly

one

of

the

searching

issues

of

our

time:

How

can

power

be

controlled?

He

argues

that

the

detainers

of

power

may

be

held

in

bounds

by

superior

force,

or

&dquo;by

the

pressure

of

criteria

of

conduct

on

the

pos-

sessors

of

power&dquo;

(p.

5).

But

he

holds

that

it

is

only

the

second,

the

pres,