A SUMMARY OF ARISTOTLE'S ETHICS. 157 



the moral man may rise to the higher life of 

 Ottopia. 



Now, the modern question is complicated by the 

 fact that we mix up the inquiry as to the origin 

 of the moral faculty with the question of its 

 present nature and authority. We cannot separate 

 the 'two. We either undermine or sustain the 

 authority of what we all agree to call conscience by 

 the theory we hold of its origin. Is it from beneath, 

 or from above ? Does it grow out of the beast in 

 us, or is it a revelation from God ? Is it an a priori 

 principle, or is it merely enlightened self-interest, 

 which has discovered that selfishness does not pay? 



There are only three possible ways of dealing 

 with conscience. 



I. To accept it as an ultimate fact, authoritative, 

 unique, and inexplicable. 



II. To justify its authority by showing that it is 

 divine, not human. 



III. To undermine its authority by explaining 

 that it is human, not divine, though a divine halo in 

 early days surrounds it. 



Kant's great work is to have splendidly vindicated 

 the fact of the authority of conscience. It chal- 

 lenges obedience unhesitating and unquestioning. 

 But men cannot stop here. Childlike trust is 

 beautiful, but impossible for the old age of the 

 world. We must ask for credentials, we must 

 " scrutinize the imperial claims " of conscience. We 



