The Search for Human Values: Moral Growth in an Evolving World by Cornelius J. van der Poel, C. S.

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS 841 to make possible the inference of certain achievable moral intentions can it give relatively clear direction to moral actions " was the conclusion of his essay. The most appealing of his efforts is also his most lengthy, occupying almost dne third of the book. " Christian Ethics in America," a historical summary of the personalities and issues involved in the writing of ethics since 1930 remains a normative study of the recent history of the discipline. Viewed as an anthology of provocative writings rather than as a major contribution in its own right, Gustafson's work merits both attention and reflection of serious scholars, students, and others who will be interested. Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky LOUIS WEEKS The Search for Human Values: Moral Growth in an Evolving World. By CoRNELIUS J. VANDERPoEL, C. S. Sp. New York: Newman Press, 1971. 186 pp. $4.95. Van der Poel's recent book is a relatively comprehensive essay in moral theology, providing outlines of a theological anthropology necessary for understanding man as a moral agent, a methodology for evaluating the rightness or wrongness of human actions, a discussion of the role of conscience in the moral life of man, and a consideration of sin and virtue as manifestations of failures and successes in human self-fulfillment. Much that the author has to say is exceptionally valuable, in particular his stress on the dynamism of man's moral life, on the interpersonal relationships between human beings and between man and God that form the fabric of man's existence as a moral being, and on the need to take into account the total human or moral dimensions of an activity in evaluating its moral worth instead of focussing immediately on some isolated element within the activity. He is surely correct in stressing the historicity of man in discussing the way in which moral values are formulated and in showing that new experiences and new possibilities compel us to be alert to the possibility that existing values need to be re-examined to discern their significance and that new values may be created. He is also quite correct in his efforts to eradicate the notion that God is some kind of aloof abstraction, the craftsman who set everything in motion, and to convey the idea that God is operative in human history and immanent in his creation and that men encounter God in a human way, that is, in and through their fellow men. 84~ BOOK REVIEWS In addition, Van der Poel's concern to show that conscience is not some kind of impersonalized, computer-type decision-making process but is rather the engagement of the whole person in the effort to determine his life for himself is very helpful in rectifying an overly mechanistic way of viewing man's moral life. Despite these commendable features, there are some disquieting elements in Van der Poel's work. He is obviously opposed to those who would offer men a prefabricated morality, one based on the premise that man's nature is something static and that man's moral life is the playing out of a role inscrutably recorded in man's being. He is likewise opposed to those who conceive man as some kind of queer combination of body and soul, conceiving the interrelation of the two, as well as the interrelation between man and God, along the lines of some mechanistic model. But Van der Poel gives the impression that it is only today, only now that men are beginning to realize that the human reality is a genuine unity. He writes that " the rather strong dichotomy between ' body ' and ' soul ' which formerly prevailed has been replaced by a more unified view of the human reality. The insight that the human task has not been outlined in advance, but that it must be discovered by each person together with his fellow men has opened a new perspective on the meaning of law." (pp. 6-7) It is true that Van der Poel is compelled to admit that a dichotomy of body and soul was ·not held by St. Thomas, for instance, and that Aquinas " possibly " had in mind the active concern for...