102 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



socialistic. (4) As to the Church or Religious Institutions. 

 (5) As to the function of the State in its relation to the 

 other institutions and to the individual. 



This second list of problems would constitute a separate 

 department of Applied Ethics. 



We can see therefore at a glance what an extensive field 

 these writers may cover, and what a variety of topics they 

 will be tempted to discuss. Before we are aware of it we 

 shall be taken into the sciences of Economics, Religion, Poli- 

 tics, Law, History, Industrial Institutions and the vast Social 

 Problem. Furthermore, if the author is not very cautious, 

 before he is aware of it, he will have launched himself into 

 the very heart of metaphysics. 



It is also to be understood that a part of every treatise 

 without exception must be made up of a consideration of 

 other ethical theories, involving some history of ethical 

 systems. In order to explain his own position, the writer 

 must pass judgment on the schools which have existed from 

 age to age. We can readily see therefore that as the world 

 grows older the treatises on Ethics must grow larger and 

 laro'er, — or else the science must be subdivided. 



In a few words I shall endeavor to state the situation in 

 regard to these various problems : although what I shall have 

 to ojffer would scarcely be more than a syllabus or table of 

 contents for a big volume. 



I. As to the first issue — the ethical ideal or the highest 

 good, — I should say that the drift of opinion now on the 

 whole was away from the principle of ** universal happi- 

 ness" or English Utilitarianism. This must be said with 

 excessive caution owing to the strength and eminence of the 

 scholars who still represent this school. It was upheld by 

 such master minds as John Stuart Mill, Alexander Bain, and 

 Henry Sidgwick. So, too, Herbert Spencer has incorporated 

 it into his great " System of Synthetic Philosophy." It is 

 the standpoint of the eminent Danish scholar, Hoffding, and 

 of the German scholars, Carneri, Rudolph von Jhering and a 

 number of others. We notice, however, among some of these 

 men a very significant tendency to substitute another phrase 



