398 
they have in common, but belongs not in particular to any one 
science, is the proper object of metaphysics.”* The Duke of 
Argyll spoke of law in five senses, in the book referred to ; 
from the “ lowest sense ” in which the term can be employed 
he comes up to a “ higher sense,” then one “ more exact and 
definite,” and lastly to “ purpose,” “ function,” “ abstract con- 
ceptions,” in other words, to will and intelligence. From what 
is purely physical he passes to what is moral and metaphysical 
—the idea of law or order carrying the mind upwards, till 
order itself brings the writer face to face with the fact or 
doctrine of one Supreme Will and Intelligence. 
ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY PROPER, CONSIDERED AS A DISTINCT 
BRANCH OF STUDY. 
Ethical or moral philosophy is the science of right and duty 
• — the “ habit of virtue,” according to Aristotle — the art or 
science of living well,” according to Cicero—' the “ science 
which relates to our mutual affections, not simply as phenomena., 
but as they are virtuous or vicious, right or wrong,” according 
to Dr. Thomas Brown — and that “ science which is founded on 
that hitherto unnamed part of the philosophy of human nature 
(to be constantly and vigilantly distinguished from intellectual 
philosophy) which contemplates the laws of sensibility, of 
emotion, of desire and aversion, of pleasure and pain, of 
happiness and misery; and on which arise the august and 
sacred landmarks that stand conspicuous along the frontier of 
right and wrong,” according to Sir James Mackintosh. 
In speaking of moral law as a system, of course what is 
material is not excluded, but subordinated to the higher aims 
of wisdom, justice, purity, and order. And if ethical philo- 
sophy has its foundation, as I believe it has, in facts of 
human nature, then it has not been, and cannot be, super- 
seded by revelation. I say this because there is a feeling — I 
am sure it is only a feeling — that however useful ethical 
philosophy may have been in ages before Christianity was 
given to the world, now that it has been given, there is no 
further need of this once special department of study. And 
perhaps this may be one reason why it forms so small a part 
of the curriculum of study prescribed for the learned pro- 
fessions. In Oxford it is not required for a degree, though 
Aristotle and Plato are read. In Cambridge it is relegated to 
the few who aspire to the distinction which the moral sciences 
* Monboddo, Ancient Met book iii. ch. 4. 
