Bodin Method for the Easy Comprenhension of History
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120 BOOK REVIEWS understood without an appreciation of the Augustinian and Platonic elements in it. St. Thomas' great rectification of the Platonic tradition lies in this: he was convinced that a more perfect understanding of the proper perfections of created reality aided their ordering to God, that error about creatures tended to generate error about God. But he always insisted that order was the most divine thing in the universe and to penetrate that order he relied on Plato and the Christian Platonists and not on Aristotle. Dominican House of Studies, Waahington, D. 0. JAMES M. EGAN, 0. P. Metlwd for the Easy Comprehension of History. By JoHN BoniN. (Translated , with an Introduction, by Beatrice Reynolds.) New York: Columbia University Press, 1945. Pp. 402, with index. $6.00. The " Method " is in reality a philosophy of history, propounded by a French legalist and intellectualist of the sixteenth century. The timeliness of a work on the philosophy of history is apparent. Recently, such an impetus has been given to historical studies that we are now in possession of more facts than the early historians ever dreamed of gathering together. Yet with all the facts and their definitive appraisals, the fundamental truths that underlie the study of history remain more or less shrouded in mystery. There is of course no lack of theories concerning these principles ; yet there is little science concerning the nature of history in the minds of those who write it. Leaving aside the lengthy introduction, which we shall mention when it refers to a point at issue in the text, we find in the first chapter of Bodin's work a discussion of the nature and the division of history. His definition is widely generic: " History is the true narration of things " (p. 15) . This is obvious exaggeration, for history cannot hope to treat all things. History is the record of the past events of man. An event is a happening of some importance. Under the author's definition, there would be full justification for those writers who persistently perpetuate in their histories the most outlandish insignificancies. Trivial subjects should not be treated at any length. In spite of this error, Bodin was closer to the truth than many modern philosophers of history. He perceived first of all that history is only a medium (narration) , and secondly that it treats of a singular, individual object. The first shows that he realized history is the medium rather than the events themselves. It is an extension of the human memory. The second point in its favor is that the definition rightly places the object of history in the particular, individual happening. This is im- BOOK REVIEWS 121 portant because it precludes the possibility of categorizing history as a true science. Certain knowledge is required for science. The particular event cannot supply such knowledge. These events are contingent things and cannot sustain a demonstrative proof. Whether or not Bodin realized the full implication of his definition need not be discussed. However, it is to his credit that he did not fall into the error of later pseudoscientific historians, who attempt to set up as true principles extravagant generalizations built upon a mass of particular happenings. The materialistic (Marxist) philosophy of history tries to cloak its specious conclusions with an absolute metaphysical certitude. There is a threefold division (p. 15) given for history: human, natural, and divine. This division will not bear critical examination, as is easily seen from the definition. Natural history, according to the author, is a development of the hidden causes of things. This is not history, but rather the study of the natural sciences and cosmology. Divine history, which was the third part of the division, is equally untenable in that it does not divide our subject. Since history is the record of the past events of man, it can hardly be applied to God who has no past. God is above the laws of time. He is eternity wherein present, past, and future are all wrapped up in the ever present nunc. On the other hand, if we consider the effects of God's action on man, for example, the Redemption or the founding of His church...
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