Sheldon — The Literature of Ethical Science. 109 



This meant calling a wholesome halt ; the effect of that lec- 

 ture has been tremendous, and may last for the whole of the 

 twentieth century. 



But, on the other hand, the group of Idealists may also 

 insist that the whole discussion from this standpoint has not 

 touched the real problem at all. It may give an explanation 

 for the appearance of codes of morals like the Decalogue. 

 But this is not conscience, they will say. It has not accounted 

 for the impulse to realize an ideal in one's self, and of one's 

 self. It has simply been explaining or describing the appear- 

 ance of a certain codified altruism through the instinct of 

 sympathy. In another direction, therefore, a novel and 

 able effort has been made by Prof. Baldwin, of Princeton 

 University, to account for the subjective element in con- 

 science through the imitative instinct, as worked out in his 

 treatise, " Social and Ethical Interpretations." How far he 

 has succeeded, it is too soon for us to give an opinion. 



It is very interesting, however, by the way, to note how 

 some of these men judge as to whether the establishment of 

 this theory concerning the derivative nature of conscience 

 may ajBfect its future influence, or its permanence as a factor 

 in the human consciousness. And here the opinions differ 

 widely. We have the frank confession of a man like Paul 

 Kee, " Das Gewissen bleibt, gleich dem Held in der Fabel, 

 nur so lange bei uns, als wir nicht fragen, woher es stammt; 

 es verlasst uns, wenn wir diese Frage stellen. Grausamkeit 

 und Mord sind nicht bose, sondern bios schadlich." Others 

 will say that there will be no practical effect one way or the 

 other. 



In the case of the astute Sidgwick we have again the frank 

 admission where he says, "A Utilitarian may reasonably 

 desire on Utilitarian principles that some of his conclusions 

 should be rejected by mankind generally ; or even that the 

 vulgar should keep aloof from his system as a whole, in so far 

 as the inevitable indefiniteness and complexity of his calcula- 

 tions render it likely to lead to bad results in their hands." 

 Again, we have the striking utterance from Guyau : " Quelque 

 origine qu'on attribue h I'impulsion du devoir, si cette im- 



