32 Ethics a Branch of History. 



fesses to be a science of any other type, whether 

 of the physical or the mathematical, it is setting 

 up its own speculations for facts, and imposing 

 upon us a dogmatism for which no shibboleth 

 can atone, be that shibboleth intuitional or utili 

 tarian, absolutist or relativist, pro- or anti-evolu 

 tionary. 



This conclusion cannot be other than unac 

 ceptable at a time when philosophical schools, 

 differing so widely in theory, have agreed in the 

 practice of producing and reading innumerable 

 works on &quot; moral science&quot; or the &quot; science of 

 ethics &quot; as it is now more generally designated. 

 And yet the conclusion is inevitable. I dare 

 not say, as Buckle used to say categorically of a 

 very different proposition, what makes it so pe 

 culiarly offensive is, that it is impossible to refute 

 it. But, assuredly, it is not easy to imagine how 

 it can be disproved. Range, in fancy, over the 

 whole circle of the sciences, and you will find 

 there no place for ethics save as a branch of 

 human history. Whatever else has been as 

 signed it, belongs not to science, but to specula 

 tion ; and is none the less speculation because 

 carried on by professed scientists. Putting aside 

 the inquiry into the faculties or functions of the 

 mind, which is plainly a part of psychology, think 



