Historians of philosophy have been notoriously unsuccessful in the past, either through hanging their own thoughts on other men’s pegs or through simply giving a list of the pegs; of the former error the supreme example may for long be Russell’s History of Western Philosophy, whilst the second failing is one which Laird found difficult to avoid within the limited space of his Home University volume on Recent Philosophy. It is all the more pleasing, then, to find that Fr Bochenski has written a history of European philosophy during the present century which presents the main lines of modern philosophers neatly and lucidly, yet makes it quite clear that the question of truth is one which the philosopher, whatever his capacity, may not neglect, and he himself unobtrusively indicates the direction in which solutions of the difficulties are to be sought. He proves himself such a stimulating guide to the thought of our own day that we can whole-heartedly express the hope of seeing the work translated into English in the near future.

The characteristic notes of the book are neatness and precision. In his short preface Fr Bochenski points out with great modesty the shortcomings which are scarcely to be avoided in giving an account of other men’s thought, though his modesty does not prevent him from insisting that it is only a mark of respect towards another philosopher to offer criticisms of his work. To have expressed an essential truth so briefly is typical of the book.