B O O K R E V I E W

L a d r i ~ r e , J e a n . Language and Belief. T r a n s l a t e d b y G a r r e t t B a r d e n . ( N o t r e

D a m e , I n d i a n a : U n i v e r s i t y o f N o t r e D a m e Press , I972 ) . O r i g i n a l l y p u b -

l i s h e d as L" articulation du sens : discours scientifique et parole de la foi i n t h e ser ies

Biblioth~que de Sciences Religieuses. E d i t e d b y M i c h e l d e C e r t e a u , I97O. $ IO.95 .

I n his In t roduct ion Professor Ladri~re states tha t the essays he presents in this volume "were wri t ten in various circumstances as answers to various problems" but , at the same t ime "'all emerge from a c o m m o n problemat ic and from a shared perspective" (p. i) . The shared perspective tha t they exemplify is linguistic. However, after each essay is studied, it is difficult to unders tand what Ladri~re means when he states tha t there is a " c o m m o n problemat ic" f rom which they emerge. O n the whole, the selections are un- related to each other. A n indicat ion of the diversity of topics is seen from the titles: '"Signs and Concepts in Science," "Symbol ism as Doma in of Operat ions ," '"The Neo- Positivist Approach ," "Science, Philosophy and Fai th," "Fai th and Cosmology," ""Self- involving Language , Theology and Philosophy" and "Dete rmin ism and Responsibil i ty: T h e Language of Action."

Accept ing the fact tha t the essays together express no c o m m o n thesis, each selection individual ly suffers from one or more defects. For example, m a n y of Ladri~re's points depend upon a sweeping review of various conclusions tha t linguistic analysts, philoso- phers of science, and logicians have arrived at in their own works. Ladri~re's writ ing reveals his grasp of this vast literature, bu t his lack of footnotes to exact sources makes it difficult for a serious reader to check Ladri~re's interpretat ions with the original sources.

Most of the essays are not as simply presented as they could be. More often t han not the au thor fails to relate the various points he makes to a ma in thesis. Each section of an essay seems at times unrela ted to any other, giving a staccato effect as one reads. The major i ty of the essays end in paragraphs in which Ladri~re asks some very impor tan t questions and one is puzzled as to why he does not more adequately develop answers to them.

Since these essays were translated from the French, it is difficult to know whether the difficult terminology and choice of words stems from Ladri~re or the translator. For example, a reader would not expect a linguist to say, while speaking of algebra, ""the symbol is always a name, if you will, bu t the n a m e of a phantom" (p. 4,9 ; italics mine) .

The essays tha t are concerned with Ladri~re's p r imary interest are his best. Ladri~re enthusiast ically a t tempts to show that the language of faith has significance beyond, and cannot be reduced to, a self-involving act. His a t t empt will be successful only for those who already have the faith about which Ladri~re speaks.

JOHN BUCKLEY, JR. University of South Alabama