438 PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT. 



distinction from the first cause which I have termed 

 theoretical, marks a practical interest. It is the in- 

 terest of morality itself, the ethical problem, that 

 problem through the study of which I have, in the 

 course of this history, led up to the subject of the 

 present chapter. 1 We have seen how morality, whether 

 it be treated from the naturalistic or the spiritual point 

 of view, inevitably suggests and demands some deeper 

 foundation and support. Some fact or interest must 

 be discovered and acknowledged which gives to the ideal 

 world of what ought to be an independent existence and 

 meaning, which enables it to superimpose itself upon 

 the world of things that are as something more than an 

 illusion or a fancy, in fact, as that which to human 

 reason be this the common - sense of the ordinary 

 man or the speculation of the philosopher reveals 

 itself as a thing of supreme reality and worth. Some 

 view of the world of things must be gained which 

 not only defines the good, the end and aim of all 

 human effort, but in addition explains and confirms 

 the sense of obligation through which it imperatively 

 demands our recognition. Without entering upon a philo- 

 sophical definition or criticism of the earlier systems of 

 morality which prevailed in modern times before the 

 era of critical thought which dates from the middle of 

 the eighteenth century, it will here suffice to say that 

 the older morality as taught in the schools and supported 

 by prevailing religious doctrine rested upon two distinct 

 commandments : they form the substance and essence 

 of Christian morality : they are the very simple com- 



1 See supra, chap. viii. end. 



