THE first volume of Father . Copleston's work covered ancient philo- sophy
from the pre-Socratierto the neo-Platonists. The second volume covers the mediaeval philosophers down to the end of the thirteenth century. It is somewhat longer than the first volume, although Father Copleston is still only half done with mediaeval philosophy. The work is evidently designed primarily to be read by Catholic readers, and perhaps only they will entirely agree that the distribution of space is not disproportionate. Non-Catholic readers can expect to derive much illumination from Father Copleston's treatment, even if they find the meticulous labour of disentangling patristic niceties sometimes rather tiresome. The author certainly offers nothing but his own thorough scholarship towards making his reader's task easy. Sometimes his very thoroughness may make it even more difficult ; for instance, when he devotes several paragraphs at the beginning of a chapter on a particular philosopher to an elaborate discussion of the various possible ways in which he. does fiat intend to treat the subject. The general reader would be ill-advised to prefer Hither Copleston's work to (for instance) Bertrand Russell's brilliant, lucid and read- able History of Western Philosophy, which covers much the same ground, even if more superficially. The one important novelty in the Catholic presentation is the careful consideration of the question why the mediaeval theologians should be counted as philosoohers in the strict sense at all.
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