FRENCH 17

• See French 17 (1995).

BYRNE, PETER, and LESLIE HOULDEN, eds. Companion Encyclopedia of Theology. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Review: K. R. Mehaffey in Choice 34 (1996), 426: "The editors intend this volume as a comprehensive guide to Christian theology in the context of Western tradition and modern thought. The Companion focuses on theology rather than social history . . . . Although most collections would be better served by the more specific information in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought . . . , the present encyclopedia would provide a good supplementary text," according to M.

CAHIER, GABRIELLA et MATTEO CAMPAGNOLO, éds. Registres de la Compagnie des Pasteurs, tome XII (1614–1616). Genève: Droz, 1995.

• See French 17 (1995, 93, 92).

CHARNLEY, JOY. "Antoinette Bourignon in Scotland." PFSCL 23 (1996), 651–658.

The short-lived but real influence in Scotland of the native of Flanders known for her emphasis on the need for personal contact with God and her view that all existing churches were corrupt.

CHEVALIER, FRANÇOISE. Prêcher sous l'Edit de Nantes. La prédication réformée au XVIIe siècle. Geneva: Labor et Fidès, 1994. Preface byPierre Chaunu.

Review: Henri Dubief in BSHPF 140 (1994), 648–49: Useful compilation from 350 sermons of the semantic fields of key terms with some disappointing results in general conclusions (use of fathers of church beyond Augustine, for example) and a key problem of historical value when it is a matter of nondesignated, synchronic use of four generations of preachers.

Review: Marc Venard in RHEF 81 (1995), 478–79: Expresses doubts on the value of information given in tables and regrets absence of an index. Searching through the collected sermons themselves leaves uncertainties about the generalizations of non-polemical discourse and particular instances of it like references to the Revocation itself, to reformers, the extent and resonances of certain Biblical references.

CHEVALIER, FRANÇOISE. "Le Synode national de Loudun (Décembre 1659-janvier 1660) d'après les témoignages du Commissiare du Roi Jacques Collas de la Madelène et du pasteur Jacques Couet du Viviers." BSHPF 142 (1996), 225–75.

Valuable reconstruction of the last national synod before the Revocation showing the control over doctrinal discussion and procedural matters by the Royal Commissioner visible in his report as well as the temperaments of many of the 56 participants from letters addressed to Pastor Paul Ferry by his grandson (Couet). Interesting depiction of Alexandre Morus, Amyrault, and of Catholic "missionary" predication/contestation in Loudun during the synod.

CHEVALLIER, MARJOLAINE. Pierre Poiret, 1649–1719. Du protestantisme à la mystique. Geneva: Labor et Fidès, 1994.

Review: Marianne Carbonnier-Burkard in BSHPF 142 (1996), 137–39: Successful condensation of state doctoral dissertation (1988): Part I traces the life, travels, intellectual co-ordinants (Descartes, Tauler, the Imitation), but especially conversion in 1676 by lifelong dedication to the prophecies of Antionette Bourignon, which he later edited. Part II presents a synthesis of texts that cohere in doctrine, "commentés avec finesse et sympathie."

CONRAD, LAWRENCE I., MICHAEL NEVE, VIVIAN NUTTON, and ANDREW WEAR. The Western Medical Tradition: 800 B.C. to A.D. 1800. Cambridge/N.Y.: CUP, 1995.

Review: Caroline Hannaway in Isis 87 (1966), 528–29: Recommended as the best available survey. Chapter VI, on medicine in early modern Europe is by Andrew Wear. Well organized, vivid, readable.

COOK, PATRICIA, ed. Philosophical Imagination and Cultural Memory: Appropriating Historical Traditions. London: Academic and University Publishers Group, 1993.

Review: Joseph Margolis in PhQ 46 (1996), 527–30: Essay by George R. Lucas Jr. "distinguishes neatly but simply three conceptions of the use of philosophy's history in philosophy . . . ." L. discusses Descartes, among other philosophers.

COOPER, DAVID E. World Philosophies: An Historical Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996.

Review: R. H. Nash in Choice 33 (1996), 1323: The author "provides an example of what the next generation of history of philosophy texts may look like, namely, a severely abbreviated treatment of Western thinkers coupled with new material on Asian and African thinkers." N. makes several negative comments about the book. "Any attempt to understand the whole of either Western philosophy or Asian thought is a daunting task," notes the reviewer. "To force students to attempt both in one course and one textbook seems unwise. Professors of philosophy and graduate students may appreciate the effort to place Western thought in a larger worldwide context," adds N., "but the book will not help many beginning students."

COURCELLES, DOMINIQUE. Le Sang de Port-Royal. Paris: L'Herne, 1994.

Review: René Tavenaux in RHEF 81 (1995), 475–76: Concentrates on the life of Mère Angelique and the drama of the destruction of the order. Ambitions to link these embodiments with the entirety of Jansenism are undermined by the documentary resources used for the history and complexity of the subject.

CROMBIE, A.C. Science, Art and Nature in Medieval and Modern Thought. London-Rio Grande, OH: Hambledon Press, 1996.

Collected papers (516 pp.). For contents see Isis 87 (1996), 400.

CRUICKSHANK, JOHN. "The Acarie Circle." SCFS 16 (1994), 49–58.

Illuminating portrait of an intelligent and spiritual woman whose life was wholly governed by God but included an impressive range of intellectual qualities and administrative skills. Useful evaluation of her salon, contacts, relationship with Bérulle.

DEAR, PETER. Discipline and Experience. The Mathematical Way in the Scientific Revolution. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1996.

Review: Michael Hunter in TLS 4876 (13 Sept. 1996): At its best in explanation of the limited understanding of the concept of experiment which persisted among Aristotelians but persisted for those like Mersenne, and even Pascal, and also in tracing the increasing claims for mathematics as model against the denigrations and reservations of professional natural philosophers. Contains "valuable information and argument" but is sometimes "disappointingly narrow in its conception" and "arcane."

DES CHENES, DENNIS. Physiologia: Natural Philosophy in Late Aristotelian and Cartesian Thought. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1996.

Review: M. H. Chaplin in Choice 34 (1996), 320: This study provides "a detailed and close examination of 16th and early 17th century Aristotelian philosophy of nature, both in its own right and as the wellspring for Cartesian thought. In a clear and rigorous manner, D. C. examines the principles of Aristotle's Physics . . . as they were discussed and debated in Renaissance Aristotelianism . . . . Descartes learned his philosophy from Scholastic texts and knew Scholasticism well: this book makes explicit in an erudite and yet extremely lucid style the influences of his schooling and the nature of his departure from the Aristotelian teleological philosophy of nature. As such," says C., "it is a contribution to both the history of science and the history of philosophy: in particular, it elucidates much of Aristotle's own thinking. . . . No one else has done this work," notes the reviewer, who adds that "it has been done superbly here." The book includes what is described as an "[e]xcellent bibliography."

DILMAN, ILHAM. Existentialist Critiques of Cartesianism. London: Macmillan, 1993.

Review: Gregory McCulloch in PhQ 46 (1996), 241–43: "This book both describes and continues the opposition of Wittgensteinian and especially existentialist thinking to 'Cartesianism,' the familiar problematic which . . . still dominates much anglophone philosophy. The radically isolated thinking subject; the externality of the physical world; the subsequent running sore of scepticism about this world and, beyond that, about any other isolated subjects it may contain: D. undertakes to explain the opposition to these features of Cartesianism, and to construct a more viable account of our life and nature." Although, says M., "[t]his is a job that some consider to have been completed," the reviewer contends that "a proper completion, which is certainly needed, will meet and beat contemporary Cartesians on their own ground." M. asserts that the author of the book being reviewed "has not made the best of the opportunity. Overall," in M.'s opinion, "the construction job is handled rather better than the description of the demolition, but everywhere the argumentation is neither deep nor detailed enough for someone who wants to be convinced."

DIXON, LAURINDA S. Perilous Chastity: Women and Illness in Pre-Enlightenment Art and Medicine. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1995.

Review: Ian MacLean in Isis 87 (1996), 352: Examines the genre painting motif of doctors' visits to women (1650–1700) and their real control over women's bodies through the accumulated lore concerning furor uterinus. Reviewer disagrees on revived currency of the "wandering womb" theory in 17th-century theory and practice and urges consideration of framing reasons for the re-publication and reading of outdated medical texts. This study may catalyze others on the contradiction on learned medical opinion but does not offer "compelling new evidence on medical or even cultural history."

DUVIGNACQ-GLESSEN, MARIE-ANGE. L'Ordre de la visitation à Paris aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1994.

Review: Isabelle Brian in Annales 50 (1995), 1199–1202: Carefully examined study of the foundation, functioning, and influence of the three Parisian convents. Sociological inquiry, skillfully used here continues the work of Roger Devos on the Annecy house and the research of Dominique Dinnet on urban religious establishments.

Review: Dominique Dinet in RHEF 82 (1996), 212–14: Regrets that the Chaillot convent was not included with consideration of the founding, maintenance, influence of the three Parisian houses. All available documentation has been consulted and although the sociological statistics could have been more clearly presented all areas are strongly recommended in this account, especially the section on the day-to-day management of affairs. "Pages très fines et très sûres" on St. François de Sales.

Review: M. Rowan in PFSCL 23 (1996), 372–373: A well-organized and rigorous study of the daily life and expanding influence, especially in terms of feminine spirituality, of the three houses founded in Paris. Bibliography and index.

EDMUNDSON, MARK. Literature against Philosophy, Plato to Derrida: A Defense of Poetry. New York: Cambridge UP, 1995.

Review: H. L. Carrigan, Jr. in Choice 33 (1996), 1787–88: "What are the consequences of privileging theory over literature? E.'s deftly and tightly woven tapestry traces the threads of the contemporary struggle between literature and theory to Plato's banishment of the poets from the Republic. In a series of brilliantly argued reflections on critical terms like presence and blindness and insight, the author . . . demonstrates the various ways that poetry, here a synecdoche for any creative cultural experience, defends itself against the life draining powers of critical theory. In particular," says the reviewer, "E. uses Romantic poetry to challenge the reductionist readings of deconstruction, feminism, psychoanalysis, and new historicism. E.'s elegant essay sounds a clarion call for a conversation between theory and poetry in which the voice of poetry both challenges theory and sustains itself." C. judges this work to be "[m]asterful cultural criticism in the tradition of Leavis and Trilling . . . ."

Review: Paul M. Hedeen in P&L 20 (1996), 538–40: "In this age of suspicion," says H., "it is refreshing to meet a believer like M. E. . . . His analysis of sophisticated doubters is impressive for its respectful tone. E. models how a traditional literary intellectual uses, rather than bests, not only what important philosophers promise, but also what literature delivers." The author "helps us decide which philosophers deserve attention, and which, finally, are weak interpreters of, and poor competitors for, the literatures they claim to know."

ELLINGTON, DONNA SPIVEY. "Impassioned Mother or Passive Icon: The Virgin's Role in Late Medieval and Early Modern Passion Sermons." RenQ 48 (1995), 227–261.

Part of an ongoing study of Marian sermons linking Marian devotion variations, broader developments in European religious life and the growth of literacy. In François de Sales, the Virgin is silent and suffering at Calvary. For Cardinal Bellarmine Christ's suffering is intensified by his mother's. A "model of emotional and physical control," Mary has become submissive — for political or religious authorities the "perfect role model."

FATIO, OLIVIER, et al, eds. Jacques Flournois, Journal (1675–1692). Geneva: Droz, 1994.

Review: Elisabeth Labrousse in BSHPF 140 (1994), 484–85: Not a personal journal but rather rigorously "objective" annals of happenings concerning Geneva, interesting as a special angle on European diplomacy and its problems during a difficult time for Geneva. Notes are especially praised for "une richesse d'information, qui fait une belle leçon d'histoire sur bien des aspects de l'Ancien Régime."

FELDHAY, RIVKA. Galileo and the Church: Political Inquisition or Critical Dialogue? New York: Cambridge UP, 1995.

Review: J. McClellan III in Choice 33 (1996), 1156: "This book enriches G. studies," according to M., "by examining conflicting philosophical and institutional currents within the Catholic Church leading up to G.'s trial in 1633. F. rejects any interpretation of the trial as part of a 'war' (or even 'conflict') between contemporary science and religion. Following G. de Santillana (The Crime of Galileo, 1955), she sees the trial in terms of power struggles between the Jesuit and Dominican orders. The strength of this work," in M.'s judgment, "lies in its detailed exposition of the theological, epistemological, political, and institutional differences between these rival intellectual élites and the evolution of their respective 'cultural fields' within the Counter Reformation church." As M. explains, F.'s "argument is that the Jesuits became the natural mediators of G.'s new science within the Church, but that they were ultimately forced by G.'s intransigent Copernicanism to cooperate with traditionalists in his condemnation."

FERRE, FREDERICK. Being and Value: Toward a Constructive Postmodern Metaphysics. Albany: State U of New York P, 1996.

Review: J. Hoffman in Choice 34 (1996), 140: "The first two parts of this book are encapsulated historical surveys of what F. calls premodern metaphysics (from the Greeks to the Renaissance) and modern metaphysics (from the Renaissance to the present), respectively. The third part is devoted to sketching a possible successor to the modern world view, a world view the author believes to be expiring. Thus, this book is a combination of the history of philosophy and a kind of philosophical futurism." F. argues for an "ecological world model." According to the reviewer, F.'s "claims for the ecological world model do not persuade; and his division of the history of metaphysical thinking into premodern and modern and his characterization of those periods of thought oversimplify the rich variety of ontologies found in both periods."

GENEVA, ANN. Astrology and the Seventeenth Century Mind: William Lilly and the Language of the Stars. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1995.

Review: R. Palter in Choice 33 (1996), 1156–57: "In this account of the leading English astrologer of the 17th century, the author's stance is 'one of enlightened but sympathetic agnosticism,' which does not preclude her characterizing L.'s subject matter as a 'body of knowledge' more akin, G. thinks, to the art of medical diagnosis than to astronomy or mathematics but nevertheless somehow deriving 'semi scientific ratification' from a 'grounding in astronomy and mathematics,' even while 'impervious to quantifiable analysis' and 'not ultimately susceptible to empirical methods or proofs'." "Astonishingly," says P., "G. is impressed by the fact that, unlike L., the modern physicist whose work she cites attaches no astrological significance to parhelia ["mock suns" or "sundogs"]. But a contemporary of L.'s, René Descartes, in the last section of his Meteorology (1637), attempts to explain mock suns in terms of refraction by ice in clouds, with not a hint of astrological considerations." P. contends that "G.'s valuable analysis of L.'s writings is marred by her slighting of the history of science both before and after the 17th century."

GILLY, CARLOS. Adam Haslmayr: Der erste Verkünder des Manifeste der Rosenkreuzer. Amsterdam: Biblioteca Philosophica Hermetica, 1994.

Review: Joscelyn Godwin in Isis 87 (1996), 354: Important study establishing that the Fama and Confessio were written ca. 1610 for private circulation in Johnann Valentin Andreae's circle. Demythologizes the Rosicrucians but at the same time shows the human and intellectual realities of its founders and through a splendid biblio. contributes to knowledge of pansophy and its blend of science and esoteric philosophy (extending in influence from Paracelsus to the early Royal Society).

GODARD DE DONVILLE, LOUISE, ed. La satire en vers au XVIIe siècle. Littératures classiques, no. 24 (printemps 1995). Paris: Klincksieck, 1995.

Review: J. Marmier in PFSCL 23 (1996), 382–385: Studies of the satiric tradition and Latin heritage, of Jacques Du Lorens, François Gacon, and Boileau, of the differences between satire and related phenomena, and a concluding essay on verse satire. Reviewer calls the volume "un grand pas à la recherche sur la satire du XVIIe siècle."

GORDON, DANIEL. Citizens without Sovereignty: Equality and Sociability in French Thought, 1670–1789. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1994.

Review: Patrick Henry in P&L 20 (1996), 279–82: "Under examination here is the early modern period in France from Louis XIV to the French Revolution when kings ruled absolutely and citizens were without sovereignty. Discarding the traditional image of the Enlightenment as the absolute enemy of absolutism, G., in this sense, follows Norbert Elias and Robert Darnton who treat the Enlightenment as part of an elitist and hierarchic establishment. More specifically, . . . G. portrays the invention of a 'nonpolitical polis' . . . , an ideological social space where, despite political inequality, citizens could practice social equality in a hierarchical régime. The rise of this 'nondemocratic egalitarian ethos' . . . brought with it a new cult of sociability . . . ." This book, in H.'s view, "is a well written, original, interesting, and illuminating interdisciplinary study of vital interest to philosophers, historians, and teachers of literature of the early modern period in France. It breaks new ground," adds the reviewer, "because G. consistently refuses easy dichotomies that have frustrated our attempts to understand the relationship between absolutism and the Enlightenment." The reviewer's "only quibble with the book itself concerns its bleak conclusion that does not necessarily flow from what precedes it."

GRAYLING, A. C., ed. Philosophy: A Guide through the Subject. New York: Oxford UP, 1995.

Review: R. H. Nash in Choice 33 (1996), 963: "Several philosophers at the University of London conceived the idea of a jointly written introduction, guide, map, and companion to philosophy. The result is a rather user friendly work," says N., "though lower division undergraduates will at times lack the necessary foundation to follow the discussion. Eleven rather long essays by different authors deal with several major areas of philosophy." Descartes is among the philosophers discussed. "Understandably," states the reviewer, "such essays cannot be very comprehensive." N. adds, however, that the volume "is an excellent resource for graduate students preparing for comprehensive exams. Each essay contains a good bibliography. The book's usefulness is enhanced by a detailed index."

HALICZER, STEPHEN. Sexuality in the Confessional: A Sacrament Profaned. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.

Review: E. Peters in Choice 33 (1996), 1704: In P.'s view, this "book is a major contribution to the history of sexuality in early modern Europe and to the growing literature on the vast database for social and cultural history offered by the records of the Spanish Inquisition." This book is described as "the most important contribution to the study of sexual solicitation in the confessional since H. C. Lea's Auricular Confession and Indulgences, published exactly 100 years ago. H. draws astutely on the best techniques of modern social history," says P.; "his database of 223 cases allows him to offer a rich and detailed picture of the life and people behind the data." The author "concludes with a wide ranging consideration of 17th and 18th century sexuality, from new methods of clerical training to the sexual fantasies of both male clergy and the women penitents they solicited. The final chapter considers the topic of sexual solicitation in the anticlerical literature of the 18th through the 20th centuries."

HANKINS, THOMAS L., and ROBERT J. SILVERMAN. Instruments and the Imagination. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1995.

Review: A. B. Stewart in Choice 33 (1996), 1157: "A historical study (1600–1900) is provided of instruments, both those devised to entertain and mystify and those designed to illustrate hidden analogies of nature and to heighten the sensual experience of nature." Includes discussion of "sunflower clock" (Kircher, 1633), "magic lantern," "ocular harpsichord (never built)," "aeolian harp," and "stereoscope." According to the reviewer, the authors "present a detailed, convincing case that a new view of the history of science comes from focusing on instrumentation rather than theory. A major contribution," says A. B. S., "not just to the history of unusual instruments but to the history of science itself."

HANLON, GREGORY. Confession and Continuity in Seventeenth-Century France. Catholic and Protestant Coexistence in Aquitaine. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993.

Review: Jacques Poujol in BSHPF 142 (1996), 321–22: Meticulously documented and presented study that has "tout pour devenir le 'Montaillou' des relations entre catholiques et protestants," "mine foissonante de faits et d'idees." Reviewer regrets the needlessly aggressive tone of the introduction.

HANSEN, HANS V., and ROBERT C. PINTO, eds. Fallacies: Classical and Contemporary Readings. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1995.

Review: F. Wilson in Choice 33 (1996), 1491: "This anthology concerns fallacies in reasoning." Thinkers represented in the volume include Arnauld. "The selection of classical sources is reasonable," says W., "and the more recent essays are generally well written. . . . [T]he intended audience for the volume seems to be those interested in the theory and teaching of fallacies who want a nice and compact introduction to the state of the art. For these it is quite a satisfactory collection," according to the reviewer, who adds that the volume includes a "[g]ood bibliography."

HELLER, HENRY. Labour, Science and Technology in France, 1500–1620. New York: Cambridge UP, 1996.

Review: J. E. Brink in Choice 34 (1996), 518: According to B., "H.'s study convincingly challenges Fernand Braudel's 'distortion of the understanding of capitalism' through his environmental determinism at the expense of conscious political decisions. H. counters this concept through a careful chronicle of the crown's support for a new science of empiricism and for technology that championed practical application of scientific principles. He also directly dismisses LeRoy Ladurie's claim of a stagnant economy during the 16th century by asserting that the innovation and efficiency of a middle class was riding the crest of economic dynamism in the first half of the century, and was actually encouraged by the crisis of the post 1560 period." B. notes that the author's "conclusions lead to his blistering attack on second generation annales historians and his reintroduction of conjunctural factors as the driving forces in the ancient regime." B. predicts that "[t]his important advance in social and economic history will be the subject of much seminar room debate."

HOUZARD, CELINE. La Communauté protestante de Paris sous la régence d'Anne d'Autriche, 1643–1653: état des sources. Mémoire dactyographié de DEA, Université de Paris, année 1994–1995.

Review: Elisabeth Labrousse in BSHPF 142 (1996), 322: Very valuable repertory of manuscripts and printed sources. Useful concentration on the Galland family and especially Auguste II whose fortune as synod observer was made by Richelieu.

HOUZARD, CELINE. "La Communauté protestante de Saint-Germain-des-Près (1635–1640)." BSHPF 142 (1996), 389–440.

Overview summarizing research on some 300 notarial files (for 1994 D.E.A.). Family alliances are set out in this Protestant-friendly area, economic standing, quality of life sketched out in details of cooperative research underway in view of a more extensive accounting for this Paris community.

JARDINE, N., J.A. SECORD, and E.C. SPRAY, eds. Cultures of Natural History. Cambridge: CUP, 1996.

Review: Keith Thomas in TLS 4875 (6 Sept., 1996), 28–29: 26 essays, "absorbing and handsomely illustrated," that trace developments from the emblematic natural history of Gesner and an opening essay on it by William Ashworth as cultural phenomena including the collections of the "culture of curiosity" of the early-modern period, the influence of patrons and entrepreneurs, provincial learned societies. An excellent chapter on Linnaeus.

KETNER, KENNETH LAINE. A Thief of Peirce: The Letters of Kenneth Laine Ketner and Walker Percy. Ed. Patrick H. Samway. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1995.

Review: J. P. Baumgaertner in Choice 33 (1996), 1304–05: "From 1984 to 1990, novelist W. P. and philosopher K. L. K. carried on a lively correspondence, which concentrated on the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce (1834–1914)," who "attempted to replace the Cartesian mind/body dualism with a philosophy of relational patterns. His emphasis on language theory was of particular interest to [W.] P., who strove to reconcile science and religion in his own theories of language. [W.] P. discovered in K. an interpreter for some of the vagaries of [C. S.] P.'s style." According to B., the editor "has collected valuable material for Percy scholars and for students of language theory."

KRUMENACHER, YVES, ed. Journal de Jean Migault ou malheurs d'une famille protestante du Poitou victime de la Révocation de l'édit de Nantes (1682–1689). Paris: Eds de Paris-Max Chaleil, 1995.

Review: Elisabeth Labrousse in RSHPF 142 (1996), 139–40: Newly collated ed. replacing the Weiss/Cluzot ed. (1910). Despite the title this movingly recorded family drama "transcrit . . . une jubilation pieuse."

LAISSUS, YVES. Le Muséum national d'histoire naturelle. Paris: Gallimard, 1995.

Review: BCLF 565 (1995), 79–80: Des témoignages et documents célèbrent l'histoire "d'un des plus anciens organismes scientifiques officiels de la France fondé par un édit royal en 1635" (le Jardin royal des plantes médicinales).

LANDAU, IDDO. "How Androcentric Is Western Philosophy?" PhQ 46 (1996), 48–59.

Citing the "regular and oft repeated claim in feminist theory that Western philosophy is androcentric, i.e., suits men's experiences and minds more than women's, or involves discrimination against women, or is geared towards dominating them," L. asserts that ". . . the literature on this subject includes hardly any critique of the notion that philosophy is androcentric. . . . The androcentricity of philosophy," says L., "seems to be a subject on which there is argumentation only on one side of the debate." The author's "aim in this paper is to take a step towards redressing this situation." L. "present[s] and examine[s] five central arguments for the androcentricity of philosophy . . . , [and] claim[s] that none of them succeeds in showing that philosophy is pervasively androcentric, and only one argument succeeds," according to L., "in showing some philosophies to be non pervasively androcentric." L. discusses the philosophy of Descartes as interpreted by Genevieve Lloyd (The Man of Reason [London: Methuen, 1984]) and by Jana Thompson ("Women and the High Priests of Reason," Radical Philosophy 39 [1983]). L. notes that these critics "make historical claims: they maintain that D.'s philosophy exercised actual historical influence towards the exclusion of women from the circles of learning. However," L. asserts, "they present no historical evidence for their arguments. They do not make out historically the hypothesis that women were more involved in learning and public life before Cartesianism than after it. Nor do they show that, if women's status did change at the time Cartesianism arose, this was not the result of some unrelated economic or social changes." "Even if it were shown . . . that Cartesianism has been used for androcentric purposes, or has been associated with androcentric views," says L., "we should reject these uses and associations, not Cartesianism itself." L. concludes: "Condemning philosophy as pervasively androcentric is based on a homogenizing, simplistic view, which takes all philosophy and all men to speak in one voice, and all women in another."

LANDGRAF, EDGAR. "Experience: An Untimely Subject." Semiotica 111 (1996), 347–356.

Review article of Genevieve Lloyd's Being in Time: Selves and Narrators in Philosophy and Literature (London: Routledge, 1993). "Although [G. L.'s] readings of traditional philosophical and modern literary texts her book includes chapters on . . . Descartes [among numerous others] . . . call up the hermeneutic tradition of a pre deconstructive (re )construction of text, she neither shies away from nor hastily condemns Derrida's thought. Rather, L. engages thematically some of the issues most closely associated with deconstruction. Her survey L.'s book barely accounts for the secondary literature pertinent to her chosen texts of this tremendous body of literature is arranged around three issues: Being in Time addresses questions of temporality and their relation to consciousness; the modern and, according to L., not so modern fragmentation of the self; and, finally, the intersection of philosophy and literature." "L.'s investigation . . . proceeds not poststructurally but hermeneutically. This is to say, in very general terms, that she does not emphasize processes of signification," notes E. L.

LAURSEN, JOHN CHRISTIAN, ed. New Essays on the Political Thought of the Huguenots of the Refuge. The Hague: Brill, 1995.

Review: Solange Deyon in BSHPF 142 (1996), 322–24: Collection of essays focused on "intermédiares culturelles," relations with France, internal politics. In the first, the "remarquable étude" of F. Brühlmeir, "Natural Law and Early Thought" demonstrates the importance of substantive glosses as worthy of attention as Puffeddorf's text. Part II raises questions of institutional integrity for a later period. The last contains T.J. Hochstrasser on the Bayle-Jurieu controversy in reference to the writings of Grotius. Laursen presents the clandestine text by M. Ricotier — Dissertation sur le mensonge officieux. New areas of research are opened by these perspectives.

LERNER, MICHEL-PIERRE. Tommaso Campanella en France: Au XVIIe siècle. Naples: Istuto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici, 1995.

Review: William L. Hine in Isis 87 (1996), 545–46: Discusses C.'s reputation in France before his move there in 1634 (dismal with Mersenne, somewhat better with Gassendi, his loss of reputation after outspokenness and oppositions to mechanistic philosophy were on the scene, attitudes toward him at death and influence posthumously (little). Appendices include the Sorbonne's evaluation of his work, poems in his honor, the horoscope he drew up for Louis XIII. Reviewer suggests this study is timely, since "C.'s view of nature as sentient may seem more relevant today." Copious footnotes are a good bibliographical guide.

LHOTE, JEAN-FRANÇOIS AND DANIELLE JOYAL, eds. Correspondance de Peiresc and Aleandro. II (1619–1620). Clermont-Ferrand: Editions Adosa, 1995.

Review: J. Tolbert in PFSCL 23 (1996), 690–691: A volume that contributes to Peiresc's role in the development and communication of a new science: "P.'s role as a gatekeeper in correspondence networks, controlling the content and flow of information, has become clarified with the publication of his exchanges with Aleandro. Questions remain as to his exact role in the development of the New Science and the influence of his humanist learning on approaches and methods he used in the study of natural philosophy."

LONG, KATHLEEN PERRY. "Salomon Trismosin and Clovis Hesteau de Nuysement: The Sexual Politics of Alchemy in Early Modern France." ECr 35 (1995), 9–21.

Examines the "relentlessly gendered" rhetoric of alchemy. Trismosin's Aureum Vellus "emphasized the significance of gender difference." Science is compared to a nurturing maternal figure; "the philosopher relates to his process as the infant relates to its mother." Images of sexual union are found central to the hermetic works of Nuysement.

MACLEAR, J. F., ed. Church and State in the Modern Age: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford UP, 1995.

Review: R. W. Rousseau in Choice 33 (1996), 1327: "M. succeeds well," according to R., "in his stated purpose of collecting important documents on church state relations from the early 17th century to the present. These texts mirror the intricate interplay among Catholic and Protestant churches as they pursue an equally complex interplay with a variety of modern states, themselves in the process of formation and change. . . . Carefully edited and translated where needed, and followed by suggestions for background and reference, the documents in this book become a vade mecum of a central core of modern church state documentation." "For anyone . . . interested or involved in modern church state questions," says R., "this is an indispensable reference."

MANCOSU, PAOLO. Philosophy of Mathematics and Mathematical Practice in the Seventeenth Century. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.

Review: R. L. Pour in Choice 34 (1996), 318: "It might be argued that the advent of modern mathematics occurred in the 17th century, a period marked by a transition from classical Greek mathematics to a radical new approach. M.'s book is the only work to date," says P., "that conducts an in depth exploration of the connection between the philosophy and practice of mathematics in the 17th century. His basic premise is that the quintessential nature of both the philosophy of mathematics and its practice in that century is exemplified by the introduction of analytic and infinitary methods. . . . His treatment of the work of Descartes, as with other mathematicians and topics, is marked by the careful use of original quotations and actual examples of the appropriate mathematics." According to the reviewer, "[s]tudents of the history of mathematics and philosophers of mathematics will find this a valuable addition to the literature."

MARCHETTI, PAOLO. Testi contra se. L'Imputato come fonte di prova nel processo penale dell'eta moderne. Milan: Giuffre, 1994.

Review: Simone Cerutti in Annales 51 (1996), 680–82: Welcome new treatment of the place of confession within the system of legal evidence in a European context, in which developments within juridical writings reveal over long period of time (13th through 17th centuries) the preparation for philosophical debates on torture of the Enlightenment. The working distinction of degree of certainty tends to make judgments much less monolithic than has been supposed. Does not go to the extreme of discounting the Enlightenment view as a "fairy tale" but "propose une révision radicale de la chronologique la plus assise des systèmes de preuves tout au long de l'Ancien Régime."

MAUTNER, THOMAS. A Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell Reference, 1995.

Review: J. R. Luttrell in Choice 33 (1996), 1775: "The goal of this new dictionary of philosophy is to give 'information that will make it easier to come to terms with philosophical texts.' It is plainly intended for newcomers to philosophy . . . . The scope is confined to Western philosophy. The entries are written in an easily accessible, conversational style, with short sentences and abundant use of illustrative examples. It is chiefly in this regard," says L., "that M.'s book differs from its most prominent contemporary rivals, Simon Blackburn's The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy . . . and The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, ed. by Robert Audi . . . . These, especially the latter, have a more academic style and treat concepts in greater depth, while M. is more colloquial than either and includes more terms. Recommended for general readers and undergraduates."

MCGREW, TIMOTHY J. The Foundations of Knowledge. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield Adams Books, 1996.

Review: J. White in Choice 34 (1996), 294: "This book speaks primarily to informed philosophers acquainted with recent developments in the theory of knowledge. Generally speaking," says W., "these developments run against the grain of traditional epistemology. M. . . . agrees with just about everybody else that from the 17th through the early 20th centuries there was a 'large area of consensus' regarding the problems of knowledge and the conditions to be placed upon adequate solutions to those problems." He also agrees that this consensus has been largely destroyed by a series of powerful arguments against a claim central to traditional epistemology: that knowledge is based on or derived from 'foundations' or 'underpinnings' in some way immune to reasonable doubt. The chief beauty of M.'s work," in the reviewer's opinion, "resides in the careful way in which he lays out the basic elements of traditional theory and shows that numerous objections by some of its most well known critics notably Kuhn and Rorty do not hold up under careful scrutiny."

MELANGES OFFERTS A ROBERT SAUZET. Foi, Fidélité, Amitié. 2 vols. Tours: Pubs. De l'Université de Tours, 1995.

Review: Michel Reulos in RSHPF 142 (1996), 141–42: List of publications followed by essays under the three title terms; of special interest Marie-Hélène Froeschlé-Chopart on Jansenist priests in Montpellier, Henri Michel on Bishop François Bouquet of Montpellier (1655–1676), Denis Crouset on the anti-Protestant interventions of the dukes of Lorraine; Miriam Yardeni, "La Querelle de la nouvelle version des psaumes dans le refuge huguenot," examining negative reactions to Conrart's translation; in the last part an essay on friendship according to Arnauld d'Andilly.

MENDUS, SUSAN. "How Androcentric Is Western Philosophy? A Reply." PhQ 46 (1996), 60–66.

M. reacts to Iddo Landau's essay in the same issue of PhQ (48–59). M. undertakes "to do two things: first, to explain why the distinction between the pervasive and the non pervasive may be more difficult to sustain than L. allows; and second, to present a counter example to his conclusion that all that can be shown is that 'some philosophies are non pervasively androcentric.'" For M., "[t]he chief difficulty in L.'s account is that he insists on supposing that there is [a "clear and definitive answer to . . . questions" raised in his essay] . . ."; M. contends that, "from a feminist perspective, [this entails asking] a misguided question. It is even more unfortunate," adds M., "that [L.] then proceeds to give what is, from almost any perspective, a misleadingly simple answer."

MENTZER, RAYMOND A., ed. Sin and Calvinists. Morals, Controls and the Consistory in the Reformed Tradition. Kirksville: Sixteenth Century Essays&Studies, vol. 32, 1994.

Review: M. Engammare in BHR 57 (1995), 795–98: "L'ensemble des communications peut sembler dispersé, les problématiques ou les périodes ne se recoupant pas exactement, il n'en offre pas moins un tableau saisissant par les premiers résultats récoltés et invite à entreprendre de nouvelles recherches sur les pratiques religieuses et sociales des communautés réformées aux XVIe et XVIIe siècles." P. Chareyre "évalue très bien le climat de suspicion pesant sur la communauté gardoise ...." R. Mentzer étudie l'excommunication dans le sud-ouest de la France.

MORGAIN, STEPHANIE. Pierre de Bérulle et les Carmélites de France. La querelle du gouvernement, 1583–1629. Paris: Eds. Du Cerf, 1996.

Review: Bernard Hours in RHEF 82 (1996), 210–12: Brings a full command of documentation, new sources, and calm to a polemic that dates back to abbé Houssaye (1872). Divides polemic into three periods, the first in Spain before the arrival of the order in France. Sympathies go, without triumphalism, to Bérulle.

NAUDIN, PIERRE. "Le péché, la grâce et le temps: le problème du délai de la conversion chez quelques prédicateurs de l'âge classique." TL 8 (1995), 183–91.

Stimulating treatment of the "alliance conflictuelle" of sin, grace and time suggests that the theme was so preponderant because their wise instructions were not taken to heart. Literary references (to Des Grieux and Don Juan, for example) complement the reflection of N., based on some thirteen preachers, including, to be sure, Bossuet, Bourdaloue and Massillon.

NEVEU, BRUNO. Erudition et religion aux XVII–XVIIIe siècles. Paris: Albin-Michel, 1994.

Review: J. Delumeau in CRa (novembre-décembre 1994), 889–91: "L'ouvrage de Bruno Neveu, riche de connaissances, remarquablement écrit, très nuancé dans ses jugements, paraît une contribution de haut niveau à une meilleure connaissance de la religion érudite du XVIIe siècle et de la 'crise de la conscience' européenne qui marqua l'ouverture du XVIIIe."

• See French 17 (1995).

NEVEU, BRUNO. "Quelques orientations de la théologie catholique au XVIIe siècle." SCFS 16 (1994), 35–47.

Valuable outline of the effects on the teaching of theology at all levels made by the clash of positive and speculative methods, recusant practices; the relationship of Rome and Parisian theological/teaching institutions, bishops. The lack of a comprehensive guide to this educational world is regretted.

PARKINSON, G.H.R., ed. The Renaissance and 17th Century Rationalism. London/New York: Routledge, 1993.

Review: Marc Escola in RHL 96.3 (1996), 498–99: Highly favorable review of the fourth volume of the Routledge History of Philosophy. The volume deals the with cultural and scientific contexts of works "[qui] ont marqué la tradition philosophique occidentale." Among the philosophers discussed are Bacon, Descartes, Gassendi, Hobbes and Spinoza. While E. "regrets" what he calls "l'absence de toute référence à ce que les allemands appellent la 'moralistique'," he endorses the collection, noting its chronology, indices, and glossary.

• See French 17 (1995).

PITASSI, MARIA-CHRISTINA. Le Christ entre orthodoxie et lumières. Geneva: Droz, 1994.

Review: Yves Krumenacker in BSHPF 142 (1996), 324–25: Geneva colloquium (1994) that greatly enriches the contexts, scope, and complex reality of the period as previously viewed by religious and secular historians. Contains treatments of the controversies of Malebranche and of Fenélon in 1687, Abbadie's Christs, 1684–1714, the evolution of the Christology of Newton, early trinitarians, the antichristian fictions centering in 1700–1714, and pietistic texts.

PITASSI, MARIA-CHRISTINA. "La Théologie au XVIIe siècle: violence ou modération?" BSHPF 141 (1995), 341–55.

Examines a group of texts by Jean Le Clerc from 1698–1701 excluding any means of force whatever from notions of orthodoxy or majority belief as a way of discovering truth. The originality is seen as lying in the dynamic conception of truth and a redifinition of the notions of orthodoxy and heresy.

PRAPRIAT, ELRICK. Eduquer et punir. Généologie du discours psychologique. Nancy: PU de Nancy, 1994.

Review: Jean-Clément Martin in Annales 51 (1996), 682–83: Centered on anecdotal information from 17th-century memoirs and other writers, applies the Foucauldian schema without the "épaisseur historique" of primary documentation. Overemphasis on means of punishment, a main organizing principle, without relevant contexts of punishments.

RANFT, PATRICIA. Women and the Religious Life in Premodern Europe. New York: St. Martin's, 1996.

Review: M. Lichtmann in Choice 34 (1996), 146: "R. seeks to present here 'a selective history of Christian religious societies for Western women from their origin until the seventeenth century' in order to contribute to an evaluation of women's position in Western history. Drawing on the scholarship on religious women available only in the last generation, her study takes the form of a survey and taxonomy of major events, orders, and persons concerned with women's religious life." The book includes discussion of "new religious orders in the early modern period." "With its scant 131 pages of text covering such a lengthy time span, and with little 'academic paraphernalia' . . . , this study provides an introductory reference useful for a general readership and in lower division undergraduate libraries," according to L.

RAVITCH, NORMAN. The Catholic Church and the French Nation, 1589–1989. London/New York: Routledge, 1990.

Review: I Mieck in HZ 261 (1995), 134: Extensive treatment of the changing relationship between the Catholic church and the French nation from the assassination of Henri III to the second Vatican Council. 17th c. section focuses on the church as an efficient instrument of political and social conformity which served "the needs of the State and monarchy." M. has high praise for the reflective and precise presentation with dependable subject and name indices, but regrets that the 12 page bibliography does not contain any items in the German language.

RATTANSI, PIYO and ANTONIO CLERICUZIO, eds. Alchemy and Chemistry in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Dordrecht-Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1994.

Review: Charles Webster in Isis 87 (1996), 353–54: Nine papers from Warburg Institute Conference (1989) that cumulatively illustrate the conformity of alchemy and chemistry from the medieval treatises through the 17th century and include richly detailed studies on early 17th-century alchemists (Raphael Eglinus and Michael Meir by Bruce T. Moran and Alrich Neimann).

RIOUX, JEAN-ANTOINE, éd. Le Jardin des plantes de Montpellier. Toulouse: Odyssée, 1994.

Review: BCLF 565 (1995), 108–09: L'histoire de l'installation du Grand Jardin de simples à Montpellier en 1593 et de son fonctionnement à travers quatre siècles.

ROSA, SUSAN. "Seventeenth-Century Catholic Polemic and the Rise of Cultural Rationalism: An Example from the Empire." JHI 57 (1996), 87–107.

Argues that 17th-century "Catholic controversialists were true to their thomistic heritage in attempting to demonstrate reason's indispensability to faith." The use of reason to shore up religious truth undermines that truth.

SAUZET, ROBERT, éd. Les frontières religieuses en Europe du XVe au XVIIe siècle. Actes du XXXIe colloque international d'études humanistes de Tours. Paris: Vrin, 1992.

Review: F. Lestringant in BHR 58 (1996), 295–98: "On peut regretter que la métaphore de la frontière, dans sa double acception de limite arbitraire et d'horizon ouvert, ne soit pas filée de manière plus rigoureuse et plus systématique au long d'un recueil où les cartes sont rares et schématiques, et qui comporte sa part inévitable de disparate. Il y avait là en effet une idée-force, une idée à coup sûr novatrice qui aurait permis une relecture en profondeur du phénomène des Réformés européennes en fonction de critères géographiques et anthropologiques. Or l'on constate que parmi les trente-deux contributeurs de ce copieux volume, tous éminents historiens des religions, assez peu en définitive se sont pliés à l'exercice de réflexion et de révision méthodologiques que leur suggérait le thème proposé. L'ensemble se divise en trois grands volets. 'Nommer l'autre,' 'refuser l'autre' et 'vivre avec l'autre' . . . ."

SCHERER, JACQUES. Dramaturgies du vrai faux. Paris: PUF, 1994.

Review: Robert Horville in RSH 242 (1996), 169–71: "Cet ouvrage . . . aborde des domaines d'une grande diversité à partir d'une réflexion sur ce que l'auteur appelle le vrai faux. . . . Pour J. S., le vrai et le faux ne s'opposent pas, mais constituent deux façons d'envisager les réalités, correspondant à deux postures complémentaires et non contradictoires devant le monde." Covering numerous topics, S. "en vient enfin au théâtre qu'il considère comme le royaume privilégié du vrai faux. La fameuse notion de vraisemblance, appui fondamental des théories dramaturgiques du XVIIe siècle, s'en trouve, en particulier, éclairée. Le vraisemblable, en tant qu'émanation de l'opinion, n'est ni vrai ni faux, et donc, à la fois vrai et faux."

SERRES, MICHEL. Eloge de la philosophie en langue française. Paris: Fayard, 1996.

Review: A. Zavriew in RDM (mai 1996), 169–73: ". . . en somme, le prospectus—tardif—du 'Corpus des oeuvres de philosophie en langue française' [une centaine de volumes] que Fayard publie depuis plus de dix ans. Serres "nous entraîne dans un étonnant parcours, une longue 'randonnée' . . . , au cours de laquelle nous voyons défiler un vaste panorama de pensées et de penseurs qui excède largement les textes publiés dans le Corpus."

SERRES, MICHEL, ed. A History of Scientific Thought: Elements of a History of Science. Oxford: Blackwell Reference, 1995.

Review: M. Schiff in Choice 33 (1996), 1330: This collection is described as a "rather unexpectedly eccentric, though fascinating, volume." "For S.," says the reviewer, "the history of science describes the multiple byways and bifurcations, some enshrined, some forgotten, leading to and away from some of the great totemic discoveries as well as those thoroughfares' intersections with the great nonscientific events of human history here, essentially Western history." According to the reviewer, this book is "[t]o be read with considerable enlightenment, and maybe a touch of skeptical reserve."

SOLOMON, ROBERT C., and KATHLEEN M. HIGGINS. A Short History of Philosophy. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.

Review: R. H. Nash in Choice 33 (1996), 1324: According to the reviewer, "[t]his is another in what appears to be a trend toward histories of philosophy that edit out material dealing with dead white European males and add discussions of Asian and African systems. The book invites comparison," says N., "with David Cooper's World Philosophies . . . , which is less objective, equally messy in its organization, but better written." N. contends that S. and H. "attempt to do too much in too little space. The result is a book that is cluttered. . . . This is not a good first book for beginning students in philosophy," declares N.: "too much integration produces only a rather tasteless stew."

SOMAN, ALFRED. Sorcellerie et justice criminelle: le Parlement de Paris (16e–18e siècles). Hampshire-Brookfield: Variorum, 1992.

Review: Robert Discimon in Annales 51 (1996), 679–80: Pays tribute to the pioneering archival career of this organizer of the Parlement's criminal archives and interpretations of the Enlightenment's less than flattering views of criminal procedures before the Ordonnance of 1670 presented in this collection of essays. It is not the progress of reason and science that decriminalizes sorcery over the period 1580–1624, but reasons inherent to magistrates' culture. "L'oeuvre . . . décrit un schéma strict de la structure et de l'évolution complexe des pratiques judiciaires." One of the best sources for viewing the profound evolution of criminal justice in modern France.

• See French 17 (1993).

STOREY, ROBERT. "Comedy, Its Theorists, and the Evolutionary Perspective." Criticism 38 (1996), 407–41.

"Researchers today in the various life sciences are gradually writing in a consensus about the importance of evolution as their guiding conceptual paradigm . . . . With very few exceptions most notably, Joseph Carroll, whose Evolution and Literary Theory marks a revolutionary advance in the field theorists of literature continue to work in ignorance of this development . . . . Evolutionists have come to understand that, if the human being is ever to be correctly understood, it must be seen within the continuum of the mammalian order, and must be acknowledged, moreover, to share much of its motivational structure with its phylogenetically close that is, primate kin. In short, it must be regarded as an evolved organism . . . ." The article includes a brief discussion of Molière's Tartuffe and the character of Orgon.

SUTTON, GEOFFREY V. Science for a Polite Society: Gender, Culture, and the Demonstration of Enlightenment. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1995.

Review: Wilbur Applebaum in Isis 87 (1996), 546–47: The story begins with Renaudot's Bureau d'Adresse, taken to be the most influential initiator of fashionable natural philosophizing before the moment of Fontenelle's reflection on the "seed bed" of the Enlightenment in fashionable salons. "Rich in illuminating detail" and a "valuable contribution to our knowledge of popular science in France."

Review: F. Potter in Choice 33 (1996), 1332: "This fascinating reexamination of the origins of modern science in the 17th and 18th centuries emphasizes the popularization of new science ideas via demonstrations in the literary salons of France rather than through accounts from laboratories of scientists. In those days, to be an 'enlightened' thinker meant that one accepted the concept that political and economic reform for the lasting benefit of humanity arose from the methods of scientific endeavor. So why not espouse these new ideas in the drawing rooms of the dilettante aristocrats? Herein," says P., "one sees René Descartes from a different perspective and learns about some of the great science demonstrators, such as Pierre Polinière and Jean Antoine Nollet." P. states that "[t]he notes, bibliography, index, and several dozen drawings are of significant help."

TAVERNEAUX, R. Le Catholicisme dans la France classique (1610–1715). Paris: S.E.D.E.S., 1994.

Review: Marc Escola in RHL 96.3 (1996), 499–500: E. praises the book, which, he claims, is "destiné aux étudiants en histoire moderne et en sciences religieuses," as well as "aux étudiants en littérature." Of note is the work's "composition" which is divided into small chapters on "les pratiques liturgiques et les dévotions collectives," as well as analysis of larger religious themes such as "le gallicanisme, l'augustinisme et le jansénisime." E. also mentions the index, the detail of the table of contents, as well as the "riche bibliographie analytique."

TIMMERMANS, BENOIT. La Résolution des problèmes de Descartes à Kant. L'Analyse à l'âge de la révolution scientifique. Paris: P.U.F., 1995.

Review: BCLF 565 (1995), 82: S'il [l'auteur] parle de résolution de problèmes, c'est que le mot résolution se donne pour la traduction latine du mot grec ana-lusis. Cela lui permet de reconstruire la liaison, qui se révèle intime, entre analyse et questionnement." Selon l'auteur, "Descartes prétend que l'analyse montre la vraie voie selon laquelle une chose a été pensée."

TIMMS, EDWARD. "The Christian Satirist: A Contradiction in Terms?" FMLS 31 (1995), 101–16.

Addresses the extent to which "religious writers have succeeded in resolving the dilemma between Christian principles and effective satirical tools of scorn and ridicule. Surveys periods from the Renaissance to our day; 17th c. writers considered "in which a serious ethical purpose sanctioned the irreverent satirical impulse" include Boileau, Pascal and La Bruyère. Although Christian charity is lacking "both in the ironic earlier letters and in the more direct invective [of the latter ones]," the oblique strategy of Pascal is praised as supremely effective.

TULLY, JAMES, ed. Philosophy in an Age of Pluralism: The Philosophy of Charles Taylor in Question. New York: Cambridge UP, 1994.

Review: Alasdair MacIntyre in PhQ 46 (1996), 522–24: "This book," says M., "belongs to a now familiar genre: a variety of commentators expound and criticize different aspects of the work of some notable philosopher, and that philosopher then replies. Such books are most successful when their contributors both enable us to read the relevant texts more insightfully and also extend and deepen debate between the philosophers and their critics. By these standards," in M.'s opinion, "this is a highly successful book, and J. T. is to be complimented on his editing." "The provocative pieces by Susan James, Clifford Geertz and Daniel Weinstock invite Taylor to reconsider certain crucial questions," one of which is "how Descartes' place in the history of the self is to be understood . . . ."

ULMER, GREGORY L. Heuretics: The Logic of Invention. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1994.

Review: Alain Gabon in SubStance 25.1 (1996), 146–51: "In Applied Grammatology (1985), U. had outlined the contours of a 'postmodernized pedagogy' by arguing for the necessity to carry the concepts of Derrida's Grammatology into practice. His objective was to reduce the enormous gap between our contemporary understanding of reading, writing and epistemology and the current institutional state of our academic and pedagogical practices. In other words, to achieve a paradigm shift that would bring educational practices into line with contemporary epistemology." "Heuretics . . . continues the project of Applied Grammatology, which would constitute something like its general framework. (. . . [O]ne of its main ideas . . . [is] that the classroom must be turned from a 'place of reproduction' into a 'place of invention.') First, Heuretics sets out to deconstruct the methods and metaphors of research in the Western tradition, from Plato's Phaedrus to Descartes's Discourse on Method. Here," says the reviewer, "U. accomplishes for the thought and history of research and invention what Derrida has achieved for the history of writing." U.'s book, says G., "is a dense, complex and bold enterprise that addresses issues of technology, media, pedagogy and research in a postmodern perspective . . . . Its greatest achievement is to provide an operational alternative to analytical instrumental thought and abstract reason and the academic modes of reading, thinking, writing and teaching associated with it. Above all," in G.'s view, "the exemplary value the lesson of the private and collective hypertext it contains (the performed tableau vivant) resides in the way it manages to harness a potentially explosive and chaotic array of data, information, texts, theories and memories into the creation of a monstrously and marvelously baroque architecture of excess."

VAN DER SCHOOR, R.J.M. The Irenical Theology of Théophile Brachet de La Milletière. Leiden/N.Y.: Brill, 1995.

Review: Elisabeth Labrousse in BSHPF 141 (1995), 451–52: "Auteur chimerique," a "lay theologian" (oddly supported by Richelieu and Mazarin), the protestant polemics and tracts for the years 1634–45 are brought into coherence. Reviewer regrets that the catholic writings, after conversion, are not included. Much new manuscript documentation.

• See 3 French 17 (1995).

VENARD, MARC and HERIBERT SMOLINSKY, eds. Die Geschichte des Christentums. Religion - Politik - Kultur. Vol 8: Die Zeit der Konfessionen (1530–1620/30). Freiburg/Basel/Wien: Herder, 1992.

Review: P. T. Lang in HZ 259 (1994), 820: Volume 8 of a 14 volume exhaustive scholarly illustrated history of Christianity. Admirable command of material and wealth of perspectives.

WADDINGTON, RAYMOND B. and ARTHUR H. WILLIAMSON, eds. The Expulsion of the Jews, 1492 and After. New York/London: Garland Publishing, 1994.

Review: S. J. Rabin in "Recent Bibliographical Tools . . . " RenQ 48 (1995), 203–08: Varied collection of essays treats custom, law, religious interactions (Jews and Moslems), the Inquisition, heresy, medical ethics and numerous other topics.

WALZ, RAINER. "Der vormoderne Antisemitismus: Religiöser Fanatismus oder Rassenwahn?" HZ 260 (1995), 719–48.

Elucidates various types of antisemitism prevalent before modern times. References to 17th c. include the idea that qualities which classify an individual in society are transmitted hereditarily, by blood, R. is quoting A. Jouanna's L'idée de race en France au XVIème et au début du XVIIème siècle). Impressive documentation ranges far and wide; an example for 17th c. is R. Mousnier. J.P. Labatut and Y. Durand. Problèmes de stratification sociales.

WASHBURN, DENNIS YULAN. "Pedant, Prelate or Pillar of Society: The Role of the Physician as Reflected in Molière's Medical Satire." (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1995) DAI (April 1996), 3992.

Thesis examines "works on medecine in France in the Seventeenth Century," and then moves to "a comprehensive study of the physician's role as depicted in the comedies of Molière." W. looks at the portrayal of the physician from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century, while focusing on "the physician's social position . . . as representative of the French socio-politicial establishment."

WATSON, RICHARD. The Philosopher's Demise: Learning French. Columbia: U of Missouri P, 1995.

Review: Patrick Henry in P&L 19 (1995), 420–23: W. is described as "[a]n internationally known expert on caving and the life and works of Descartes . . . ." This book "is the final part of a very loosely woven trilogy that is neither traditional philosophical discourse nor fiction. These are certainly lighter texts than the ones on Cartesian metaphysics indeed," says H., "they are all funny but they also contain a good deal of practical philosophy." Among other things, W. "exposes the farcical nature of academic conferences in France and pillories the chauvinistic Descartes specialists who won't waste their time talking to foreign scholars. . . . He offers a scathing attack on French pedagogy as it is practiced at the Alliance Française where one is forced to follow rules rigidly and creativity is punished." "By the time we finish [this book], we realize that, in part, the rigidity of the French Descartes, c'est la France [reference to "[a] recent title"] can indeed be blamed on Descartes. Even W. admits it: 'I fear, alas, that some of this madness for rules and order stems from my hero, Descartes.' He cites a telling maxim from the Discours de la méthode: 'to be as firm and decisive in my actions as I could, and to follow even the most doubtful opinions, once I had adopted them' . . . ."

WELLCOME INSTITUTE. The Western Medical Tradition, 800 BC to AD 1800, by members of the Academic Unit, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, London/New York: Cambridge UP, 1995.

Review: G. Eknoyan in Choice 33 (1996), 1680: "This survey of the history of Western medicine, from the Greeks to the end of the 18th century, is written by five members of the Wellcome Institute. More than a narrative of the course of events, this is an analytical exposition of the development of medicine within the social and demographic changes of its times. Although [the story is] well told, the space devoted to analysis limits that allotted to narrative; as such, readers unfamiliar with the period may get lost, at least in some parts of the book," according to E. (of the Baylor College of Medicine). "The illustrations . . . are reproduced superbly and enrich the written text," says the reviewer. The book is judged to be "an impressive addition to the available traditional narrative texts on the history of medicine, but a difficult read for the beginner."

WILSON, CATHERINE. The Invisible World: Early Modern Philosophy and the Invention of the Microscope. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1995.

Review: L. C. Archie in Choice 33 (1996), 1150: "In this complex study of the beginnings of microscopy, W. . . . skillfully integrates the consequent 17th century developments in scientific, philosophic, and religious thought. Noting that the expansion of the visible to the miscroscopic world of observation provided little substantial advancement in theoretical knowledge, the author identifies three significant shifts of interest that, nevertheless, genuinely advanced intellectual thought. First, of course, the microscope opened up a whole new world of observation beyond the macroscopic range of the visible. Second, occult interpretations of natural processes were seen to be inappropriate, since the increasing objectification of nature ostensibly posed a threat to Christian interpretations of God's interaction with the world. Finally, ingenious mechanical models of the subvisible realm were seen to be fictions and were abandoned. . . . The story of how science was done is shown to be 'an uneasy compromise between experience and intelligibility.' This comprehensive account of early microscopy," says the reviewer, "is notable for its depth of research and importance for the history of ideas."

Review: Rose-Marie Sargent in Isis 87 (1996), 170–71: Ambitious essay on the microscope's revelation of the intractibility of fact. Working with it, and the new sense of limits, leads to a shaping of the scientific world-view in elaboration of metaphysical and epistemological positions. "Extremely challenging and suggestive descriptions."

WILSON, ROBERT A. Cartesian Psychology and Physical Minds: Individualism and the Sciences of the Mind. New York: Cambridge UP, 1995.

Review: H. Storl in Choice 33 (1996), 1326: "The viability of individualism is a central question in the philosophy of mind. Individualism is the view that the nature of mental states is 'narrow' that is, a study of mental states need not concern itself with considerations external to the individual. Thus," notes S., "the individuation or classification of mental states does not 'presuppose anything in particular about the external world of the individual who has those states.'" The reviewer judges this book to be "a powerful addition to the debate concerning individualism," seeing it as a study whose "value lies in its clear presentation and much needed critical summary of recent developments in individualism. . . . The text is highly recommended [by S.] for philosophers, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and others . . . ."

WOJCIEHOWSKI, DOLORA A. Old Masters, New Subjects: Early Modern and Poststructuralist Theories of Will. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1995.

Review: A. Rabil, Jr. in Choice 33 (1996), 776: "By 'old masters,' W. . . . means the time in history (early modern or Renaissance) when people self consciously felt themselves to be unified, centered, autonomous, and free. The phrase 'new subjects' of the title refers to contemporary readers: decentered (unable to possess full autonomy and fully conscious of this limitation) but directed toward some form of freedom and mastery. What unite old masters and new subjects are discourses on the will (the issue of freedom vs. determinism) by the old masters humanists (Petrarch), scientists (Galileo), and theologians (Luther, Ignatius Loyola, Teresa) read through the eyes of new subjects. The connecting point between old masters and new subjects is the sense the old masters had of their own uncertainties on which they built their sense of certainty the latter an achievement of the rhetoric of the will."

WOLTERSTORFF, NICHOLAS. John Locke and the Ethics of Belief. New York: Cambridge UP, 1996.

Review: P. K. Moser in Choice 34 (1996), 143: The author "expounds J. L.'s contribution to the ethics of belief, the discipline concerning how we ought to regulate our beliefs." "The book's four chapters consider rationality in everyday life . . . , Hume's attack, L.'s originality (including a discussion of how Descartes's project differed), and L. and the making of modern philosophy. Clearly written," according to M., "the book makes a valiant effort to understand L. on his own terms with regard to the rational regulation of belief." M. calls this work "an important contribution to scholarship on L.'s ethics of belief."

YGAUNIN, JEAN. La femme et le prêtre: thème littéraire. Paris: Nizet, 1993.

Review: Anon. in FMLS 31 (1995), 192: Praises choice of theme as insightful but finds that the book "misses its own self-created opportunity." Wide-ranging texts from medieval times to our day.

YOLTON, JOHN W. Perception and Reality: A History from Descartes to Kant. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1996.

Review: R. H. Evans in Choice 34 (1996), 295–96: "In this book," says the reviewer, "Y. . . . reconfirms his reputation as perhaps the best current scholar on 17th and 18th century philosophy; it builds upon his Perceptual Acquaintance from Descartes to Reid (1984). Everyone interested in the problem of perception needs to study this work," according to E.; "it covers not just the major and minor philosophers from D. to K. but has penetrating critiques of such contemporaries as J. J. Gibson, J. J. Valberg, Richard Rorty, and Colin McGinn. Y.'s aim is not just historical; he is looking for the clearest statements of direct realism, the position he finds most adequate. . . . This is not easy stuff, but the writing is superbly clear, and the quotations and references to current scholarship clarify both the context and the importance of the contemporary debate." The book is "[r]ecommended for all philosophers and psychologists interested in perception and the idealism realism debates in the 17th and 18th centuries."