Book Reviews : Medieval Political Philosophy: A Sourcebook. Edited by RALPH LERNER AND MUH- SIN MAHDI. (New York: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1963. Pp. xii, 532. $10.00.)
| Author | Louis Wasserman |
| Published date | 01 March 1964 |
| Date | 01 March 1964 |
| DOI | 10.1177/106591296401700126 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
148
as
anti-Lockean.
His
piece
on
Christian
pacifism
takes
exception
to
that
intellectual
stance
in
the
face of
the
modern-day
threat
of
communism.
Nearly
half
the
book’s
length
is
given
over
to
conservative
appraisals
of
recent
works
(copyrighted
1957-1960)
on
politics
- being
Kendall’s
appraisals
of
these
works.
The
reader
would
be
aided
in
making
his
selection
from
these
thirty
reviews
had
the
author
included
a
list
of
authors
and
works
reviewed.
Among
Kendall’s
favorite
contemporary
political
writers
are
Leo
Strauss
and
Eric
Voegelin.
Along
the
way
Kendall
informs
his
readers
that
the
&dquo;enlightened&dquo;
political
scientists
of
our
universities
overwhelmingly
accept
liberal
positions,
and
pauses
on
occasion
to
hurl
barbs
at
our
behaviorist
colleagues
in
the
profession.
His
urbane
style
and
wit
are
present
as
usual.
The
very
presence
of
wit
in
a
present-day
con-
servative
is
doubtless
as
infuriating
to
liberals
as
any
possible
demolition
of
liberal
stands
by
conservative
disputation.
In
view
of
the
fragmentation
of
the
volume
and
the
dated
character
of
the
selec-
tion
of
book
reviews,
a
subscription
to
National
Review
(to
which
author
Kendall
is
a
frequent
contributor
and
sometime
editor)
would
seem
to
be
a
better
buy.
Arizona
State
University
Ross
R.
RICE
Medieval
Political
Philosophy:
A
Sourcebook.
Edited
by
RALPH
LERNER
AND
MUH-
SIN
MAHDI.
(New
York:
The
Free
Press
of
Glencoe,
1963.
Pp.
xii,
532.
$10.00.)
This
is
a
collection
of
twenty-five
translations
from
the
Latin,
Arabic,
and
Hebrew
writings
of
the
Medieval
period
designed
to
present
the
essential
political
ideas
of
the
Mediterranean
world
from
the
rediscovery
of
the
classical
tradition
to
the
Renaissance.
Given
the
predominant
mood
of
our
discipline
today,
this
must
indeed
be
reckoned
a
daring
venture:
not
many
political
scientists
are
disposed
to
pause
long
enough
in
their
task
of
computer
analysis
to
give
thought,
say,
to
Alfarabi
or
Maimonides.
If
so,
’twere
a
pity.
Few
contemporary
political
works
are
able
to
muster
as
cogent
or
persuasive
a
justification
of
their
efforts
as
the
authors
do
in
their
introduction
to
this
book.
If
we
concede
any
function
at
all
to
the
history
of
political
thought
we
can
rejoice
that
there
is
now,
at
long
last,
a
publication
that
makes
intelligible
an
historical
period
too
long
neglected
and
too
greatly
disparaged.
Most
of
the
writings
here included
have
not
heretofore
been
available
in
an
English
version;
in
all
cases
the
translation
is
based
upon
the
original
manuscripts
in
Arabic,
Latin,
or
Hebrew -
a
task
which
alone
calls
for
gratitude
to
the
eighteen
scholars
involved.
There
are
ten
selections
each
from
Islamic
and
Christian
phi-
losophers,
and
five
from
Judaic
sources.
Each
is
introduced
by
an
historical-bio-
graphical
sketch,
together
with
a
pr6cis
of
its
argument.
Some
of
the
names
and
works
are
wholly
familiar
to
us,
those
of
Aquinas,
Maimonides,
Dante,
and
Roger
Bacon,
for
example;
others,
such
as
Avicenna,
Averroes,
Alfarabi,
Aegidius
Ro-
manus,
and
William
of
Ockham,
have
had
only
spotty
treatment
and
brief
com-
mentary
up
to
now;
a
third
group
-
Avempace,
Ibn
Tufayl,
Albo,
Abravanel,
and
perhaps
others-will
presumably
come
as
wholly
new
discoveries
to
Western
readers.
Are
these
philosophers
really
worth
reading?
Not
if
we
demand
from
them
a
straightforward
and
systematic
discussion
of
things
political,
and
particularly
if
we
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