Christianity and Ethics | Page 8

they rule
the world. A new spiritual idea shoots forth its rays and enlightens to
larger issues generations of men. There is a mystery in every
forth-putting of will-power, and every expression of personality.
Character cannot be computed. The art of goodness, of living nobly, if
so unconscious a thing may be called an art, is one certainly which
defies complete scientific treatment. It is with facts like these that
Ethics has to do; and while we may lay down broad general principles
which must underlie the teaching of every true prophet and the conduct
of every good man, there will always be an element with which science
cannot cope.
IV. It will not be necessary, after what has been said, to trace at any
length the relations between Ethics and the {15} special mental
sciences, such as Logic, Aesthetics, and Politics.
1. Logic is the science of the formal laws of thought, and is concerned
not with the truth of phenomena, but merely with the laws of correct
reasoning about them. Ethics establishes the laws according to which
we ought to act. Logic legislates for the reason, and decerns the laws
which the intellect must obey if it would think correctly. Both sciences
determine what is valid; but while Logic is confined to the realm of
what is valid in reasoning, Ethics is occupied with what is valid in
action. There is, indeed, a logic of life; and in so far as all true conduct
must have a rational element in it and be guided by certain intelligible
forms, Ethics may be described as a kind of logic of character.
2. The connection between Ethics and Aesthetics is closer. Aesthetics is
the science of the laws of beauty, while Ethics is the science of the laws
of the good. But in so far as Aesthetics deals with the emotions rather
than the reason it comes into contact with Ethics in the psychological

field. In its narrower sense Aesthetics deals with beauty merely in an
impersonal way; and its immediate object is not what is morally
beautiful, but rather that which is beautiful in itself irrespective of
moral considerations. Ethics, on the other hand, is concerned with
personal worth as expressed in perfection of will and action. Conduct
may be beautiful and character may afford Aesthetic satisfaction, but
Ethics, in so far as it is concerned with judgments of virtue, is
independent of all thought of the mere beauty or utility of conduct.
Aesthetic consideration may indeed aid practical morality, but it is not
identical with it. It is conceivable that what is right may not be
immediately beautiful, and may indeed in its pursuit or realisation
involve action which contradicts our ideas of beauty. But though both
sciences have different aims they are occupied largely with the same
emotions, and are connected by a common idealising purpose. In the
deepest sense, what is good is beautiful and what is beautiful is good;
and {16} ultimately, in the moral and spiritual life, goodness and
beauty coincide. Indeed, so close is the connection between the two
conceptions that the Greeks used the same word, to kalon, to express
beauty of form and nobility of character. And even in modern times the
expression 'a beautiful soul,' indicates the intimate relation between
inner excellence of life and outward attractiveness. Both Aesthetics and
Ethics have regard to that symmetry or proportion of life which fulfils
our ideas at once of goodness and of beauty. In this sense Schiller
sought to remove the sharpness of Kant's moral theory by claiming a
place in the moral life for beauty. Our actions are, indeed, good when
we do our duty because we ought, but they are beautiful when we do it
because we cannot do otherwise, because they have become our second
nature. The purpose of all culture, says Schiller, is to harmonise reason
and sense, and thus to fulfil the idea of a perfect manhood.[5]
'When I dared question: "It is beautiful, But is it true?" Thy answer was,
"In truth lives beauty."'[6]
3. Politics is still more closely related to Ethics, and indeed Ethics may
be said to comprehend Politics. Both deal with human action and
institution, and cover largely the same field. For man is not merely an
individual, but is a part of a social organism. We cannot consider the

virtues of the individual life without also considering the society to
which he is related, and the interaction of the whole and its part.
Politics is usually defined as the science of government, which of
course, involves all the institutions and laws affecting men's relations to
each other. But while Politics is strictly concerned only with the
outward condition of the state's well-being and the external order of
{17} the community, Ethics seeks the internal