155 JESSAYS SCIENTIFIC AND PHILOSOPHICAL. 



as a Hedonist, though he would say that a perfect 

 life c^t rrjv TjSovrjv Iv laurto, and is also conducive to 

 the good of all. But the criterion, as with Plato, is 

 psychological. Each act is good as it promotes 

 the activity of a true tvtpytia, and " the better the 

 part, and the better the man, the better the tvtpyeta." 

 The activity of the highest tvtpysia is the highest 

 good. Morality is lower than philosophy, because 

 the fvEjoyaa is lower and less unmixed ; within the 

 area of morality each virtue is higher as it pro- 

 motes the ascendancy of reason over animal impulse. 

 How do we know higher from lower ? By ex- 

 perience. He who has tried all gives a judgment 

 which is beyond criticism, and he tells us of the 

 marvellous happiness of the divine lifeof philosophy, 



(y) Finally, the question of the moral faculty 

 raises no difficulty with Aristotle. It is reason, 

 not reason in its speculative activity (<ro0t'a), but 

 in its active region (^povr](ng). If we call this 

 QpovYiariQ conscience, we are reading between the 

 lines. For Qpovriais is simply reason exercised in 

 matters moral, speaking in the imperative (tTnro- 

 KTiKT)) as well as judging what is right. It pre- 

 supposes the wish for real good and the knowledge 

 of what it is and how to attain it. And where 

 is perfect, as in the (TTTOV^OIOQ who is the 

 , there is a perfect harmony between ope&c; 

 and Aoyo. Nature is thus at peace with itself, and 



