128 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



** Conscience is a mere general name used to designate a series of com- 

 plex phenomena, and not a separate special faculty." — " Introduction to 

 Ethics," by Frank Thilly. 



'* The moral law being, in brief, conformity to the conditions of social 

 welfare, conscience is the name of the intrinsic motives to such conform- 

 ity." —''The Science of Ethics," by Sir Leslie Stephen. 



" Whatever may be the historical origin of human morality, let us, then, 

 admit that in the actual consciousness of humanity, or, at least, in that of 

 the noblest groups of humanity, there exists the idea of a general and uni- 

 versal form for our actions, of a law which claims control of the reason, 

 and commands the will." — '^ Theory of Morals," by Paul Janet. 



•' Wenn nun der Gefiihlszustand des einzelnen Augenblicks, als Wirkung 

 der eignen Handlung des Individuums im Bewusstsein mit dem durch 

 die Vorstellung der Lebeustotalit^t bestimmten Gefiihlszustande zusam- 

 mentrifft, so wird ein neues Gefiihl entstehen, das durch das gegen- 

 seitige Verhaitnis jener Gefiihle bestimmt ist, ein Verhaltnis, das entweder 

 harmouisch oder disharmonisch sein kaun. In diesem, durch das Verhalten 

 des momentanen Zustands zu dem durch die Rucksicht auf die Lebenstotal- 

 itat bestimmten Zustande erzeugten Gefiihle besteht die Wertschatzung. 

 Das Vermogen, solche Gefiihle zu haben, istdasGewissen." — "Ethik," by 

 Harald Hoffding. 



'* — Es z weierlei ist, was wirbehaupten : die entwickelnde Kraf tder Erf ahr- 

 ung einerseits, aber ebenso sehr das urspriiogliche Vorhandensein des 

 Keimes, auf den sie wirkt. Man wird nie Erfolg haben, wenn man in eine 

 leere Seele hinein das Bewusstsein des SoUens nur vermittelst der Eindriicke 

 der Erfahrung bringen will." — *' Mikrokosmus," by H. Lotze. 



"That which, when we become capable of reflection, we term con- 

 science, consists in pleasure in forms of action furthering the welfare of 

 society — forms gradually moulded to habit with the development of social 

 relations, — and in a corresponding pain at the realization of having failed 

 of such action ; the knowledge of the demand by society as a whole or by a 

 part of society, of action in accord with the general welfare, and the sense of 

 the justice of this demand, constituting the feeling of obligation and duty." — 

 "A Review of the Systems of Ethics founded on the Theory of Evolution," 

 by C. M. Williams. 



*< The feeling of moral approbation or disapprobation, when applied to 

 our own actions and characters, thus assuming the form of self-approba- 

 tion or self-disapprobation, constitutes the moral sanction, strictly so 

 called. It is this sanction which, to men of pure and elevated character, 

 is the most powerful guardian of morality, and, to all men, it remains as 

 the ultimate guardian, when the other sanctions have become inopera- 

 tive. — *' The Principles of Morals, " by Fowler and Wilson. 



