Christianity and Ethics | Page 6

is ever some dim
perception of an end to be attained. 'The ultimate end,' says Paulsen,
'impelling men to meditate upon the nature of the universe, will always
be the desire to reach some conclusion concerning the meaning of the
source and goal of their lives.' The origin and aim of all philosophy is
consequently to be sought in Ethics.
I. If we ask more particularly what Ethics is, definition affords us some
light. It is to Aristotle that we are indebted for the earliest use of this
term, and it was he who gave to the subject its title and systematic form.
The name ta ethika is derived from êthos, character, which again is
closely connected with ethos, signifying custom. Ethics, therefore,
according to Aristotle is the science of character, character being
understood to mean according to its etymology, customs or habits of
conduct. But while the modern usage of the term 'character' suggests
greater inwardness than would seem to be implied in the ancient
definition, it must be remembered that under the title of Ethics Aristotle
had in view, not only a description of the outward habits of man, but
also that which gives to custom its value, viz., the sources of action, the
motives, and especially the ends which guide a man in the conduct of
life. But since men live before they reflect, Ethics and Morality are not
synonymous. So long as there is a congruity between the customs of a
people and the practical requirements of life, ethical questions do not
occur. It is only when difficulties arise as to matters of right, for which
the {11} existing usages of society offer no solution, that reflection

upon morality awakens. No longer content with blindly accepting the
formulae of the past, men are prompted to ask, whence do these
customs come, and what is their authority? In the conflict of duties,
which a wider outlook inevitably creates, the inquirer seeks to estimate
their relative values, and to bring his conception of life into harmony
with the higher demands and larger ideals which have been disclosed to
him. This has been the invariable course of ethical inquiry. At different
stages of history--in the age of the Sophists of Ancient Greece, when
men were no longer satisfied with the old forms of life and truth: at the
dawn of the Christian era, when a new ideal was revealed in Christ:
during the period of the Reformation, when men threw off the bondage
of the past and made a stand for the rights of the individual conscience:
and in more recent times, when in the field of political life the
antithesis between individual and social instincts had awakened larger
and more enlightened views of civic and social responsibility--the
study of Ethics, as a science of moral life, has come to the front.
Ethics may, therefore, be defined as the science of the end of life--the
science which inquires into its meaning and purpose. But inasmuch as
the end or purpose of life involves the idea of some good which is in
harmony with the highest conceivable well-being of man--some good
which belongs to the true fulfilment of life--Ethics may also be defined
as the science of the highest good or summum bonum.
Finally, Ethics may be considered not only as the science of the highest
good or ultimate end of life, but also as the study of all that conditions
that end, the dispositions, desires and motives of the individual, all the
facts and forces which bear upon the will and shape human life in its
various social relationships.
II. Arising out of this general definition three features may be
mentioned as descriptive of its distinctive character among the
sciences.
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1. Ethics is concerned with the ideal of life. By an ideal we mean a
better state of being than has been actually realised. We are confessedly

not as we should be, and there floats before the minds of men a vision
of some higher condition of life and society than that which exists. Life
divorced from an ideal is ethically valueless. Some conception of the
supreme good is the imperative demand and moral necessity of man's
being. Hence the chief business of Ethics is to answer the question:
What is the supreme good? For what should a man live? What, in short,
is the ideal of life? In this respect Ethics as a science is distinguished
from the physical sciences. They explain facts and trace sequences, but
they do not form ideals or endeavour to move the will in the direction
of them.
2. Ethics again is concerned with a norm of life, and in this sense it is
frequently styled a normative science. That is to say, it is a science
which prescribes rules or maxims according to