Elements of Morals Part 38

[108] Plato, Republic, i., ii.

[109] See his _De Officiis_, i., iv.

[110] It might be called _sensibility_, in the sense this word had in the XVIII. century. It is not enough to be human toward others, one owes some feeling to one's self also.

[111] Nicomachean Ethics, VI., ii.

[112] Ibid., VI., xii.

[113] Nicomachean Ethics, VI., ii.

[114] We do not mean by this that science cannot be a means of livelihood: nothing more legitimate, on the contrary. We only mean that it is not that alone.

[115] See also the admirable pa.s.sage of Augustin Thierry in the preface to _Dix ans d'etude_.

[116] "Answer me, ye ill.u.s.trious philosophers, ye through whom we know what are the causes which attract bodies to a vacuum; what are in the revolutions of the planets, the relations of the s.p.a.ces they travel over at equal periods ... how man sees everything in G.o.d; how the soul and the body correspond to each other without inter-communication, like two clocks.... Even though you had not taught us any of these things, should we be less numerous, less flourishing, more depraved?" This pa.s.sage recalls vividly that of Malebranche quoted above. What, however, is most curious about it is that Rousseau in his criticism appropriates Malebranche's hypothesis.

[117] "Good sense is the best distributed thing in the world," says Descartes at the beginning of his _Discours de la Methode_.

[118] Unless, of course, pa.s.sion itself implies a duty superior to self-interest: which is not the case here.

[119] See Burlamaqui, _Droit naturel_, part I., ch. vi.

[120] See the celebrated lines in the _Misanthrope_, act ii., sc. v.

[121] _Virtus_ in Latin has both meanings.

[122] Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by R. W. Browne, III., vi.

[123] This idea of Aristotle may be questioned; for, in a sudden peril, one may be sustained by a natural impulse, and the feeling of self-defense, whilst antic.i.p.ated peril allows all the impressions of fear to grow: it requires, therefore, a greater effort to overcome them.

[124] _De Officiis_, I., xxiii.

[125] See Xenophon's _Memorabilia of Socrates_, I., i.

[126] _Discours de la Methode_, part III.

[127] The Works of Epictetus. T. W. Higginson's translation, ch. vi., p.

21.

[128] The Works of Epictetus. T. W. Higginson's translation, ch. xv., page 139.

[129] Latin, _gyrus_, the ring in which colts are driven round by horse-breakers.

[130] Cicero, _De Officiis_, I., xxvi.

[131] Plato's _Republic_, I., iv.: A man deserves to be called courageous when that part of his soul in which anger resides obeys the commands of reason.

[132] Aristotle, _Nicomachean Ethics_, R. W. Browne's transl., IV., v.

[133] Plato's _Republic_, I., iv.

[134] Anger is still n.o.bler when provoked by injustice done to others.

[135] Aristotle, _Nicomachean Ethics_, IV., v.

[136] Kant, _Doctrine de la Vertu_, _trad. franc._, p. 96.

[137] Moliere's _Tartufe_.

[138]

And shall I speak of Iris, loved and praised by all?

Ah! what heart! ah! what heart! humanity itself!

A wounded b.u.t.terfly calls forth the truest tears!

Ah, yes; but when to death poor Lally is condemned, And to the block is dragged, a spectacle to all, Iris will be the first to go to the dread feast, And buy herself the joy to see his dear head fall.

GILBERT, _le Dix-Huitieme Siecle_.

[139] _Lettre sur la metaphysique_, lettre II., chap. ix.

[140] Metaphysics is the science which treats of what is beyond and above nature. We call _metaphysical_ such attributes of G.o.d by which he surpa.s.ses nature; as, for instance, infinitude, immensity; the moral attributes, on the contrary, are those which have their a.n.a.logies in the human soul, such as kindness, wisdom, etc.

[141] V. Cousin, _Le Vrai, le Beau et le Bien_, xvi{e} _lecon_.

[142] See _Dictionnaire de l'Academie francaise_ (7{e} edition, 1878): "_Veneration_, respect for holy things. It is also said of the respectful esteem in which certain persons are held."

[143] A postulate is a truth which, although it cannot be rigorously demonstrated should, nevertheless, by reason of the necessity of its consequences, be practically admitted.

[144] Kant, _Critique de la raison pratique_, II., ii. Trad. de J. Barni, p. 334.

[145] _Critique de la raison pratique_; trad. fr., p. 363.

[146] Jules Simon, _La Liberte de Conscience_, 4{e} lecon (Paris, 1857).--We have borrowed some few pa.s.sages of another book of the same author, _La Liberte_ (Vol. ii., 4{e}, part 1, ch. 1).

[147] Fenelon. _Lettres sur la metaphysique et la religion._ Letter II., ch. i.

[148] The works of Epictetus. T. W. Higginson's transl., I., xvi.

[149] _De Augmentis Scientiarum_, III., i. and iii.

[150] Kant, _Anthropologie_. Trad. franc. de Tissot, p. 27.

[151] Kant gives ingenious examples of these three degrees of action. See his _Anthropologische charakteristik_.

[152] Aristotle's _Rhetoric_, book II., ch. xii., xiii., xiv., Bohn's translation.

[153] Psychology is the science which treats of the faculties and operations of the soul.