316 THEORY AND ADMINISTRATION 



the universal of man; and as, in his general philosophical system, the 

 general is considered as more real, more important, than the partic- 

 ular, so the body politic is conceived to represent, if not actually 

 to be, a higher type of humanity than the single individuals compre- 

 hended within it. Hence, in his political scheme the welfare of these 

 individuals is wholly subordinated to that of the civic generality, 

 and the citizen is treated as having no rights, no aims, indeed, 

 apart from the state. Aristotle, on the other hand, while not denying 

 reality to ideas or universals, yet holds that they do not exist apart 

 from the particulars included within them. The particulars are thus 

 given an importance and a self-existence, as it were, of their own. 

 They are treated as having a life that is not and cannot be com- 

 pletely swallowed up in that of their universals. The reflection of 

 this in his political thought is seen in the increased rights and claims 

 which are given to individuals, qua individuals, as against the state. 



Political Philosophy and Ethics 



The relation between political and ethical theories has been even 

 more intimate than that which has existed between political philo- 

 sophy and metaphysics. So intimate, indeed, has this association 

 been that Janet, who has given us, perhaps, our best history of po- 

 litical speculations, has found it practicable to combine this history 

 with an account of the ethical systems of the writers considered. 1 



Upon its theoretical, side, ethics necessarily depends upon meta- 

 physical inquiries into the essential nature of man and of the moral 

 order of the universe. Upon its practical side, however, its union is 

 with politics. When the character of moral obligation or of sanc- 

 tion, or the nature of the highest good is dealt with, we are in the 

 realm of theoretical or abstract ethics. When the establishment of 

 proper norms for human conduct is essayed, the domain of practical 

 ethics is entered. Practical ethics is essentially a social science in 

 that it has for its aim the determination of just rules for the guidance 

 of men in their dealings with one another. The solitary individual 

 may be and is, in fact, a moral being, but until he is brought into 

 association with others of his kind there can occur to him few, if any, 

 obligations of a moral nature. For though we may hold that the 

 feeling of moral obligation is an original datum of human conscious- 

 ness, and that man, as a partaker in the divine or absolute reason, 

 is potentially a moral being, the possibility of his coming to a self- 

 recognition of this fact, as well as the opportunity of realizing it in 

 practice, is only rendered possible in the social and political state. 



1 The title of his work is Histoire dz la Science Politique dans ses Rapports 

 avec la Morale. When completed, Dunning's History of Political Theories will 

 easily rank as the best account of political speculations. Thus far two volumes 

 have appeared, bringing the history down to the time of Montesquieu. 



