Page:Philosophical Review Volume 26.djvu/685

No. 6.] it has not been successfully applied to the larger problems of conduct in this popular sketch, it cannot be said that Professor Holt has succeeded in showing that the 'wish' is as promising a tool of analysis for the psychology of ethics as the 'instinct,' 'emotion,' 'sentiment' and 'self' of McDougall and Shand.

With the general spirit and purpose of the book the undersigned finds himself largely in sympathy. The moral life of course does somehow go on in the behavior of organisms, and to show how it develops from reflexes has been a momentous problem ever since Spencer. If Professor Holt can ultimately succeed in making moral conduct, including selfhood and personality, inteligible in terms of behaviorism he will achieve a splendid triumph both for the new psychology and the new realism. This book is at least extremely thought-provoking, and it is written in a facile style that makes it thoroughly delightful reading.

In spite of the fact that the protestant layman will find the terminology of this book somewhat strange he cannot fail to apprehend the sincerity and the learning of the author. The introduction by Thomas W. Churchill reminds the reader that religious teaching has gradually been excluded from the public school until many serious students are alarmed at the prospect of a generation unschooled in reverence and unselfish devotion. Of the five sections of this book, the first recites the Roman Catholic criticism of the secular training of teachers and maintains that the religious novitiate is a much better preparation for teaching and for the development of personality. The second section discusses religious faith and its value for the teacher. The third pursues the same subject in a chapter called "Biological Aspects of Faith" and in another, "Psychological Aspects of Faith." The substance of both these chapters is familiar notwithstanding the strange sound of the titles. In the fourth section another aspect of the training of the religious teacher is introduced in the study of the psychology and educational value of meditation. A final section is devoted to the superior training for social life which the religious novitiate secures through its "detachment from worldly goods, subjection of the flesh to the spirit, submission of the will to lawful authority, and all for God's sake" (p. 59). Probably a majority of those who read the book will be convinced by the temper and humanity of the author rather than by his logic. To the critical mind the practice of introducing a quotation to prove a point which in the nature of the case can be proved by experimental evidence only will be irritating but need not be taken too seriously. With the main thesis that personality is best developed by contact with religious attitudes very few would quarrel.