312 THEORY AND ADMINISTRATION 







possible play to the speculative abilities and inclinations of their 

 authors was permitted, and thus, as a writer in the Quarterly (October, 

 1900) has remarked, the science or philosophy of natural law, while 

 preventing the creation of a true and useful science of politics, was 

 the apotheosis of political philosophy. 



In our day, however, in both ethical and political speculation, 

 the absolute has given way to the relative. That the best form of 

 government and the best code of laws are not the same for all peoples, 

 and that, though the distinction between right and wrong is abso- 

 lute, no particular rules of conduct are, are now truisms. 



This, however, has not meant the total, or, indeed, the considerable, 

 destruction of political philosophy even upon its ideal or ethical side. 

 Though we now no longer believe that it is possible to construct 

 a political Utopia everywhere applicable, or an ideal code of laws 

 ethically and absolutely binding upon every one, we still hold it 

 profitable to subject existing political conditions to ethical and 

 utilitarian criticism, and consider it possible to outline systems of 

 governments and elaborate codes of laws, which, while admittedly 

 imperfect, and applicable only to particular conditions, are, never- 

 theless, improvements upon those existing. Furthermore, we still 

 see the necessity of discovering an ethical quo warranto both for 

 the existence of political authority in general and for the given state 

 or government in particular. 



But it is especially upon its analytical side that political philosophy 

 now nourishes and demonstrates its value. First of all, rigid political 

 analysis has rendered possible the creation of a true political science. 

 A science has been defined as " knowledge gained and unified by 

 exact observation and correct thinking, especially as methodically 

 formulated and arranged in a rational system " (Standard Dictionary). 

 Thus it is not until the related facts obtained by research, observation, 

 and experimentation have been coordinated and logically classified 

 that a science is created. But before this coordination and classi- 

 fication are possible the facts themselves have to be correctly ana- 

 lyzed and their essential characteristics ascertained, so that exact 

 definitions of them may be drawn and criteria discovered that may 

 serve as the bases of correct classifications. Thus political philosophy 

 upon its analytical side, by ascertaining the precise connotations of 

 such terms as law, government, state, suzerainty, sovereignty, and 

 the like, has rendered possible the formulation of exact definitions and 

 classifications and, consequently, the creation of a political science. 

 Especially in the fields of constitutional jurisprudence and of 

 international law is the value of political analysis made manifest. 

 Political philosophy, in fact, supplies the logic of constitutional 

 law, and where fundamental political concepts have not been intelli- 

 gently thought out and harmonized into a system, vagaries in consti- 



