La voix et le phénomène by J. DerridaReview by: C. M. R.The Review of Metaphysics, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Sep., 1968), pp. 142-143Published by: Philosophy Education Society Inc.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20124758 .

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142 ROSEMARY DESJARDINS AND STAFF

which he presents the logical and semantic skills which are prerequisite to the following chapters. He considers valid argument forms, the

method of counter-example, definition, induction, and so on, with

exercises given for each topic. The chapters "Knowledge and Skep ticism" and "Freedom and Determinism" are also his. Cornman con

tributes chapters on the "Mind-Body Problem," "Justifying the Belief

in God," and "Justifying an Ethical Standard." Each chapter has an

exhaustive bibliography running several pages, giving classical sources,

anthologies, textbooks, recent books, other bibliographies where avail

able, and paying special attention to contemporary articles of both

immediate and related pertinence. Each chapter, after the first, begins with a statement of the topic in straightforward terms. The alter

native positions on the issue are enumerated; each is given a clear

elaboration, and the problems faced by each are brought out for con

sideration. There is considerable dialectical play between positions, as one arises in response to problems unsolvable by another. Each

chapter ends by showing which of the alternatives seems most reason

able, and providing exercises for the student. ? M. B. M.

Crowley, T. H. Understanding Computers. New York: McGraw-Hill Book

Company, 1967. 142 pp. Paper, $2.45?This is an extremely simplified

yet remarkably thorough introduction to how computers work. It is

for the "computer widow" and the interested layman. I think it

would well serve as a minimal grounding for the philosopher forced

by his colleagues and others into discussions of artificial intelligence. The language is condescendingly simple with each new technical term

introduced with appropriate fanfare and placed in italics. The exposi tion is accompanied by many diagrams and examples. The book

covers the binary operation of the computer and the role of symbols: how they are interpreted, how they get in to the computer (Input), how they get out (Output), how they are stored (Memory), and the

logical categories by which they are processed. It discusses the con

trol process by which the sequential order of computer operations is

determined and the role of the programmer. The latter chapters of the book discuss a number of issues relating to the socio-economic

implications of the widespread use of computers. Crowley takes great

pains to point out the limitations of computers both with respect to

current applicability and to future developments. He defends the

computer as a potentially humanizing force in spite of its dehuman

izing aspects. The book contains a short critical bibliography. ?

S. O. H.

Derrida, J. La voix et le ph?nom?ne. Paris: Presses Universitaires de

France, 1967. 117 pp. F 9?With the publication of three significant books in 1967, La voix et le ph?nom?ne, L'?criture et la diff?rence, and

De la grammatologie, Derrida is proving himself a noteworthy figure in French philosophy, and a diversified one as well. (His De la gram

matologie contains an extensive section on Rousseau and L?vi-Strauss

whose work is examined against the theoretical background of the

former.) La voix et le ph?nom?ne is a scholarly reinterpretation of

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SUMMARIES AND COMMENTS 143

Husserl centered around his theory of the sign, which Derrida sees as

playing a secret but decisive role in his phenomenology. Derrida

attacks chiefly two Husserlian prejudices: his theory of language as

the dimension of absolute proximity-to-self, and his privileging of the

"expression" (Ausdruck) meaning of the sign over the "index" (An

ziehen) meaning. These mesh with Husserl's notion of the transcend

ent voice present-to-itself, a central idea of his intuitionism. Thus,

according to Derrida, Husserl's phenomenology really rejoins a tradi

tional metaphysics?philosophy of presence?it had set out to criticize.

This book will be valuable not only as an original interpretation of

Husserl, but as a springboard into Derrida's philosophy as well. ?

C. M. R.

De Vogel, C. J. Pythagoras and Early Pythagoreanism: An Interpretation of

Neglected Evidence on the Philosopher Pythagoras. Assen, The Nether

lands: Van Gorcum Press, 1966. 323 pp. Hfl. 28.50?Too often the his

torians of philosophy tend to relegate a philosopher to a meaningless

anonymity by rigidly classifying his thought into one particular cate

gory. De Vogel feels that this has been done to Pythagoras and the

Pythagorean tradition. He claims that because philosophical scholars have relied chiefly on Platonic and Aristotelian accounts of

Pythagoras, two misleading effects have ensued: 1. We have lost sight of the man Pythagoras and his charismatic influence on the people of

Crot?n and Magna Graecia; 2. Pythagoras, cosmic theory of numerical

ratios has been emphasized to the neglect of, and in separation from, his political and social teachings. De Vogel hopes to remedy these two impressions by returning to "neglected evidence" and

reconstructing the life of Pythagoras. He hopes to remove

Pythagoras from that vague classification as one of the ol cptmxoi into which Aristotle had placed all the pre-Socratic thinkers.

Furthermore, the author wants to show the essential unity of

Pythagoras' cosmic, social, and political thinking. The neglected evidence on which De Vogel bases his reconstruction is mainly the

testimony of Timaeus, an historian of Southern Italy and Sicily;

Aristoxenus, a follower of Pythagoras; and Dicaearchus, a writer of

cultural history. In addition to these last mentioned sources, the

author cites the testimony of coins and quotes leading archaeologists; he refers to the many historians and biographers of Pythagoras; and

especially, he draws from the four speeches of Pythagoras that are

recorded by Iamblichus. With these source materials, De Vogel re

constructs a Pythagoras who is a charismatic preacher-moralist; one

who gives precepts of life governing justice, friendship, love, health,

education, rhetoric, and medicine. What is more, all of these social

and political teachings are shown to be integrated with the cosmic

theory of numbers which De Vogel removes from the realm of abstract

and idle theory. Pythagoras emerges as a leading figure in Crot?n

and throughout Magna Graecia. All in all, this volume is an excellent

contribution to Pythagorean scholarship. ? J. J. R.

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