Ralph Waldo Emerson - The Character of Socrates and The Present State of Ethical Philosphy, 1896 by gnosisclassics

TWO UNPUBLISHED

ESSAYS

THE CHARACTER

SOCRATES THE PRESENT STATE OF ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY BY

RALPH WALDO EMERSON WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY EDWARD EVERETT HALE

MDCCCXC-Vl

LAMSON WOLFFE O CO BOSTON D NEW-YORK

Introduction

THE

name of James Bowdoin

/M first

on that cata

logue preserved by John Lovell of pupils of the Boston Latin School, which is the basis of its printed cata

He graduated at Cambridge

logue.

the college

made him

745, and, in 1783, He was a fellow

Doctor of Laws.

of the college, president of the American Academy, and He was a leading Governor of Massachusetts in 1788. member of the convention which adopted the Federal Constitution

;

1780, which

Very

likely

name of

&quot;the

he was president of the convention of the Constitution of Massachusetts.

made

was he who gave Harvard College its new University at Cambridge,&quot; and it is per

haps a pity that that

name

has not been preserved by his

successors.

&quot;

When he died, in 1790, he left in his will a bequest, my Alma Mater, the University at Cambridge,&quot;

of some four hundred pounds, to be placed at interest in

good

security,

applied in the

and

useful

way

the interest thereof annually of premiums for the advancement of &quot;and

polite literature in the residents, as well

grad

uates as undergraduates, of the university, the premiums to be paid in such way and manner as shall be best

adapted to excite a dents

spirit

of emulation

among

the performances entitled to such

619791

such

premiums

resi

to be

Introduction read in public by their respective authors, who shall copy of the same, to be lodged in the

deliver a fair

such copies to be written on quarto paper of size, that such of them as shall merit it may

library,

the

same

be bound together the

handsome volumes and lodged

library.&quot;

At some doin

ment

period not very long after Governor

Bow-

death, the arrangements were made, substantially as they are still carried on, for the Bowdoin prize disser announce tations, as they are called at Cambridge.

made annually

that dissertations will be received,

from resident graduates and from undergraduates, competition for the prizes offered.

Several subjects are

assigned, from which the competitors

may

select such

but no competitor may write on any subject except one of these. The income of the fund has not been all used in every year for the prizes as they prefer to handle

offered,

and

;

has thus been enlarged by the appropria

tion of unused interest to the increase of the principal, till it stands on the treasurer s account at about fourteen dollars. At the time of Bowdoin s death, the pound of which he spoke was worth $3.335 the fund is therefore now nearly ten times what it was then.

thousand

At tion.

from

present, nine prizes are offered

They may be

they will not be

less

for translations into

much

than

this

founda

one hundred dollars

fifty dollars.

Greek or Latin,

They

are offered

for compositions in

Introduction

Greek

Some of

or Latin, and for English essays.

the

subjects in English essays are historical,

some

now called philosophical, and some The dissertations must not contain more

than ten thou

are

what

scientific.

sand words, and the authors of successful dissertations them in public, at a place and time

are invited to read to be designated

by the dean. Mr. Emerson s day, the arrangement was sub

same, but the

stantially the fifty dollars,

tion

first

and the second

prizes

were then only

prizes thirty.

medal was originally

that a gold

The

offered,

tradi

and

but for many, many years no The winners of candidate ever asked for the medal.

was offered

prizes their

at that

time

;

were generally young men who knew how to use money and when, many years after Mr. Emer ;

son, a successful competitor asked for his gold medal,

proved that the college had no die for any such medal, and no such offer has since been made. Fortunately for us, among the subjects given in the Mr. year 1820 was &quot;The Character of Socrates.&quot; Emerson was at this time seventeen years old. Know ing him as we know him now, one is not surprised that

he chose this subject.

His dissertation, printed from

the

copy preserved

reader there

hands.

The

college

was among the subjects

Ethical

Philosophy.&quot;

library,

the

fortunately again, The Present State of

year, &quot;

Once more Mr. Emerson was

Introduction successful in the competition, and the second of these curious and valuable papers exists, therefore, in the col

Cambridge, which also

is reprinted here. reads these essays now, if he be at all familiar with the habit of writing, in the first half of the

lection at

Whoever

century, of

men who were

dealing with such subjects,

boy of seventeen or eighteen years of must have surprised and sometimes an what wrote age noyed the sort of men who would be apt to be named will see that the

upon a committee of award. In the present instance, the committees were the corporation of the college, con Kirkland, John Davis, Dr. William

sisting of President

William Ellery Channing, John Lowell, John Phillips, Governor Gore Prescott, and Dr. Eliphalet Porter. assisted in the

make

award of 1820.

would be hard

a better committee.

be an encouragement to many a young man, in his early tussles of competition, if he be reminded that Ralph Waldo Emerson at that time could not, or It will

did not, write an essay that was thought worthy of a first It is pathetic to think that the judges were not prize.

willing to

award the

which were offered

But to us who

first

prize to

any of the papers

in the

competition. read after the event,

who

read after

Mr. Emerson has changed the whole philosophy of that Yankee Plato&quot; time, the opportunity to read what the &quot;

said,

when he was

a boy, of the

life

of Socrates

most

Introduction fortunate.

cannot but think that,

we had

not his

manuscript had struggled through anony mously and were printed to-day, we should have sense

name,

if this

enough, wit enough, and insight enough to recognize the author.

The

reader will be curious to compare the paper with life of Socrates in the essay on Plato 1 in &quot;Representative Men. The date of the publica the sketch of the

is 1876, but, probably, much of it had been put on paper before that time. In reading the two papers, I have been led to ask my

tion of the essay

self

whether the careful study which, for the preparation first, he gave to the life of Socrates, did not do

of the

something and senior

in the direction

years,

ond paper. fanciful.

of the studies of his junior did not lead up to the sec

if it

But such speculations are hardly more than he who said, when he was not yet thirty

It is

years old,

than

and so

&quot;

Milton does not love moral perfection more I cannot yet declare has been my

That which

should we not angel from childhood until now.&quot; expect of the boy who was fast growing into such a manhood, that he should write, if he could, on the posi

Why

tion of the study of ethical philosophy in his time

The

condition of ethical philosophy in 1821 was cer In 1837, in the same col tainly not very promising. lege, I

had given to me for my study Paley s Moral in which I was that I did taught right in &quot;

Philosophy,

Introduction the hope and expectation of being paid in heaven for

Things were no

sacrifice.

better

sixteen

years

before. It would be idle to anticipate the pleasure with which the reader will follow these early essays, by pointing out some striking passages in which the early promise of the

man may be

observed.

It is

a pity that

contemporary record of the occasion

we have no

which he read

The these essays before an audience of undergraduates. At the will required that the essays should be so read. * when and where the dean present time, they are read requests.&quot;

times, there has been a certain difficulty, an audience. But had there been

I believe, in finding

of prophecy in the classes which graduated in and 1821, there would have been no doubt but that they would have filled the modest chapel of the time to hear Ralph Waldo Emerson lecture on Socrates or on

any 1

spirit

8 zo

ethical philosophy.

EDWARD

HALE.

Mr. Josiah P. the original gold medal which his father The received as a first prize when Mr. Emerson took a second. This shows medal bears the head of Bowdoin on the obverse. NOTE.

Since this introduction was in type,

Quincy has shown

that the die has been lost in recent times, if the traditions above referred to

were well founded.

The

Character of Socrates

The

Character of Socrates

[A Bowdoin Prize Dissertation of 1820]

Guide my way Through fair Lyceum s walk, the green retreats Of Academus, and the thymy vale Where, oft enchanted with Socratic sounds, &quot;

pure devolved his tuneful stream In gentler murmurs. From the blooming store

Ilissus

Of these

auspicious

Transplant some

My native

THE

fields,

may

unblamed

living blossoms to adorn

clime.&quot;

human mind has of commanded an unusual degree of

philosophy of the

late

years attention from the curious and the learned.

The

increasing notice which it obtains is owing much to the genius of those men who have raised

themselves with the science to general regard, but chiefly, as

its

trolled progress

zeal of

patrons contend, to the uncon

human improvement.

The

advocates, however, in other respects commendable, has sinned in one particular, they have laid a little too much self-complacent stress its

The

Character of Socrates

on the merit and success of exertions, and in their

their

own

unselfish

contempt of the absurd and trifling speculations of former metaphysicians, appear to have confounded sophists and true phil first

some who have enlightened the world and marked out

osophers, and to have been disdainful of

a path for future

advancement.

Indeed, the giant strength of modern improve ment is more indebted to the early wisdom of

Thales and Socrates and Plato than allowed, or perhaps than

generally

modern philosophers

have been well aware.

This supposition is strongly confirmed by a consideration of the character of Socrates, which, every view, is uncommon and admirable. one who should read his life as recorded in

To by

previous knowl the of the man, edge extraordinary character and

Xenophon and

Plato without

circumstances of his incredible.

biography would

would seem

appear

that antiquity had

endeavored to fable forth a being clothed with all the perfection which the purest and brightest imagination could conceive or combine, bestow-

The

Character of Socrates

ing upon the piece only so to

make

much

tangible and imitable.

imaginary view of the character, inclined to

of mortality as

Even

in this

we have been

wonder that men, without

a revelation,

by the light of reason only, should set forth a model of moral perfection which the wise of any

And, further, it age would do well to imitate. offer a of might subject ingenious speculation, to

mark the

points of difference, should

fancy, with

all its

modern

superiority of philosophic

and

theological knowledge, endeavor to create a sim ilar But this is foreign to our purpose. paragon.

be well, in reviewing the character of Socrates, to mark the age in which he lived, as the moral and political circumstances of the times It will

would probably exert an important and immediate influence on his opinions and character. The dark ages of Greece, from the settlement of the colonies to the Trojan War, had long closed.

The young

republics

importance.

The

had been growing in and strength, population, territory, digesting their constitutions and building up their name and Persian

War,

that hard but

The

Character of Socrates

memorable controversy of rage and

spite,

con

flicting with energetic and disciplined independ of ence, had shed over their land an effulgence D

which

glory

which

after ages

human

trial

richly deserved

pardoned

if,

all

have bestowed.

that It

applause

was a

stern

and the Greeks might be intercourse with less glorious

effort,

in their

nations, they carried the record of their long tri umph too far to conciliate national jealousies.

The this

aggrandizement of Greece which followed memorable war was the zenith of its powers

and splendor, and ushered of the political fabric.

The

in the

decay and

fall

age of Pericles has caused Athens to be At no time during her in history.

remembered

existence were the arts so flourishing, popular and feeling so exalted and refined, or her

taste

political

relations

extensive and respected.

The

Athenian people were happy at home, rev and at the head of the Grecian erenced abroad, confederacy.

and

their

period

Their commerce was

wars few and honorable.

was

lucrative,

In this mild

to be expected that literature and

The science tering

Character of Socrates

would grow up vigorously under the fos The patronage of taste and power.

of Olympian games awakened the emulation genius and

produced

dramatic

the

efforts

and Aristoph ./Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, anes, and philosophy came down from heaven to Anaxagoras, Archelaus,

and Socrates.

Such was the external and obvious condition con of Athens, apparently prosperous, but a and disastrous cealed evil began to display specific consequences.

The

sophists had acquired the

and influence, by the exhibi brightest popularity tion of those superficial accomplishments whose an ingenious novelty captivated the minds of people, its

among whom

infancy.

own

sake.

modity. such as

exorbitant,

was yet

Learning was not yet loved for its It was prized as a saleable com

The it

true learning

sophists bargained their literature,

was, for a price

;

and

this price,

was yet regulated by the

ability

ever

of the

scholar.

of men should pos an influence over the Athenian sess so strong

That

this singular order

The

Character of Socrates

public argues no strange or unnatural state of

been sometimes represented j it is the proper and natural result of improvement in a money-making community. By the prosperity all of their trading interests the common wants society, as has

of society were satisfied, and it was natural that the mind should next urge its claim to cultivation, and the surplus of property be expended for the gratification

of the

This has been

intellect.

found true in the growth of

all

after successful trade, literature

nations,

that

soon throve well,

human mind was cramped by no climate or of skyey influences.&quot; disadvantages The Athenian sophists adapted their course of provided the

&quot;

pursuits of knowledge, with admirable skill, to the taste of the people.

They

first

approved them

selves masters of athletic exercises, for the

want

of which no superiority of intellect, however consummate, would compensate in the Grecian republics.

They

then applied themselves to the which enabled

cultivation of forensic eloquence,

on any however on and unexpected. any occasion, subject

them

to discourse volubly, if ignorantly,

The

become

Character of Socrates

perfect

this

grand

art,

was

necessary to acquire, by habit and diligence, an imperturbable self-possession which could con front, unabashed, the rudest accident

;

and more

of respondent and exclamatory phrases, skilfully constructed to meet the emer After this gencies of a difficult conversation. over, a

flood

laudable education had thus far accomplished its con aim, the young sophist became partially

versant with the limited learning of the age in all its The poets, the historians, the sages, subjects. the writers on the useful arts, each and all

And occupied by turns his glancing observation. when the motley composition of his mind was full, it

only remained to stamp upon his character to make him what the

some few peculiarities, moderns have called a

&quot;

mannerist,&quot;

and

his

professional education was considered complete. When the sophists made themselves known,

they assumed a sanctity of manners, which awed familiarity and very conveniently cloaked their sinister

designs.

Pythagoras, after his persever

ing exertions for the attainment of knowledge,

The

after his varied

Character of Socrates

and laborious

lished a romantic school at

travels,

tions resembling free masonry, in

dices,

the

institu

which had planted

Greece prepossessions favorable

The

had estab

Crotona with

to philosophy.

sophists availed themselves of their preju

and amused the crowds

rumor of novelty, with

who

riddles

gathered at

and

defini

theories of existence,

tions,

with gorgeous fables and presumptuous professions. laid claim to all knowledge, and craftily

splendid

They

continued to

steal

the respect of a credulous

populace, and to enrich themselves by pretending

When

to instruct the children of the opulent.

they had thus

fatally

secured their

own emolu

ment, they rapidly threw off the assumed of their morals, and, under covert of a

rigidity

sort of

perfumed morality, indulged themselves and their followers in abominable excesses, degrading the

mind and debauching

virtue.

Unhappily for

Greece, the contaminating vices of Asiatic lux ury, the sumptuous heritage of Persian War,

had

but

depravity.

too

naturally seconded

the

growing

The

Character of Socrates

youth of great

men

seldom marked by Their

which arrest observation.

any peculiarities minds have secret workings and, though they feel and enjoy the consciousness of genius, they seldom betray prognostics of greatness. Many ;

cradled by misfortune and want have reproached the sun as he rose and went down,

who were

of circumstances their

for amidst the baseness

minds were

large

bowed lowly

many have their own have gone down many

unsatisfied, unfed

to those

;

whose names

were destined to outlive

;

to their graves in obscurity, for fortune withheld them from eminence, and to beg they were

ashamed.

the son of the sculptor and midwife

know

that he

became eminent

as a sculptor,

only but displaying genius for higher pursuits, Crito, who afterward became his disciple, procured for

him admission

to the schools

tion as the times furnished.

and to such educa

But the rudiments

of his character and his homely virtues were formed in the workshop, secluded from tempta tion

;

and those inward operations of

his strong

The

Character of Socrates

mind were begun which were afterwards matured in the ripeness

We shall

life.

proceed to examine the character of

the philosopher, after premising that we do not intend to give the detail of his life, but shall occa sionally

adduce

of the opinions

facts

of biography as illustrative formed. With regard

we have

method pursued in the arrangement of our remarks, we must observe that sketches of the to the

character of an individual can admit of definiteness of plan, but

shall direct

little

our atten

tion to a consideration of the leading features of his

mind, and to a few of

which went

make up

his

moral excellences

the great aggregate of

his character.

The chief advantage which he owed to nature, the source of his philosophy and the foundation of his character, was a large share of plain good sense,

a shrewdness

which would not

suffer

be duped, and withal, concealed under a semblance of the frankest simplicity, which itself to

beguiled the objects of his pursuit into conversa This tion and confidence which met his wishes.

The

Character of Socrates

which enabled him to investigate character, to learn the natural tendency and bias of his own genius, and thus to perfectly

was the his

faculty

own

control his mental energies. There is a story of Socrates, related by Cicero, which militates somewhat with the opinion we

have formed of his mind, that when a physi after examined his features, ognomist, having

had pronounced him a

man of bad

passions and

depraved character, Socrates reproved the indig nation of his disciples by acknowledging the truth of the assertion so far as nature

cerned, saying that life

to eradicate these violent

art,

his

This

passions.

might have been merely a trick of such is consistent with his character. not view

was con

had been the object of

and as

can

any other light ; for although it is very probable that natural malignity might have it

darkened his early life, yet no assertion of his convince us, in contradiction with

own would his

whole

life

and instruction, that he was ever

subject to the fiercer passions.

the order of his intellect.

Such, too, was a man of

He was

The

Character of Socrates

strong and vivid conceptions, but utterly desti tute of fancy.

he possessed originality and

Still,

sometimes sublimity of thought. His powerful mind had surmounted the unavoidable errors of education, and had retained those acquirements which are found applicable to the uses of com

mon

life,

whilst he had discarded whatever

was

absurd or unprofitable. He studied the nature and explored the des Not tinies of men with a chastised enthusiasm. withstanding

the

sober, dispassionate

mind which we have mentioned, he

moved

discussion

all

times

;

when he

turn

not un

enters into the

upon the immortality of the soul and

the nature and attributes of Deity, he forgets his quibbles upon terms, and his celebrated irony,

and sensibly warms and expands with his theme. This was aided by the constant activity of his mind, which endowed him with energy of thought and language, and its discipline never suffered

him

to obtrude

an unguarded emotion.

In perfect accordance with this view of his mind is his conduct under circumstances related

The

Character of Socrates

by Plato. In prison, whilst under condemnation, he was directed in vision to seek the favor of the

Muses.

was

This new

discipline enjoined

utterly incongruous with the

upon him

temper and His

habits of feeling usual to the philosopher. plain sense

and

logical

mind, which would reduce

everything, however impressive, to mathematical measurement, were little conversant, we may sup pose, with poetical visions.

fact,

could

not suppose a character more diametrically oppo site to the soul of the poet, in all the gradations

of cultivated mind, than the soul of Socrates. The food and occupation of the former has to

do with

dreams, airy nothings, of bright personifications glory and joy and evil, and we imagine him sitting apart, like Brahma, golden

moulding magnificent forms, clothing them with The latter dwells on beauty and grandeur. earth, dealing plainly

men

and bluntly with

actions, instructing

to forbear

;

them what

men and to do

and even when he desires to

lift

and his

only to mingle with higher reality, but never forsaking safe,but tedious,paths of certainty. tone,

it is

The

All this

Character of Socrates

we know, and

rates selected to

manner which Soc

the

perform the task assigned him

creates neither disappointment nor surprise

perhaps in the biographical annals

was no

there

intellect

nearly resembled fables

whose leading

his

he undertook to

own

;

for

of his country feature

than ^Esop, whose

versify.

may well be supposed that a mind thus cast was eminently calculated to instruct, and his It

didactic disposition always rendered

him

rather

the teacher than the companion of his friends.

Add

to all this

an unrivalled keenness of pene of others, and hence

tration into the character

arose his ruling motive in all his intercourse with men ; it was not to impart literary knowledge or

information in science or

art,

but to lay open to

human mind, and all its unac knowledged propensities, its weak and fortified All positions, and the springs of human action. his

own view

the

was achieved by the power of his art, and it enabled him easily to grasp the mind, and mould

this

at will,

and to unite and direct the wandering

energies of the

human

soul.

The

Character of Socrates

His mind was cultivated, though his learning was little. He was acquainted with the works of the most eminent poets of his country, but as he seems never to have made literature his study,

was probably the of the sophists, declamations gleaned from the limited erudition he possessed

whose

pride never scrupled to

borrow abundantly

from the superfluous light which departed genius afforded. His own acquisitions had been made

workshops of the Athenian artisans, in the society of Aspasia and Theombrota, and by in

in the

telligent,

experienced observation.

Though

living in

Athens, he acquired little of life ; surrounded

taste for the elegance or pride

as he

was by the

living marbles

which

all

suc

ceeding ages have consented to admire, and then just breathing from the hand of the artist, he

appeared utterly dead to their beauties, and used them only as casual illustrations of an argu ment. In the gratification of his desire to learn

and know mankind, he visited the poor and the rich, the virtuous and the degraded, and set him self to explore all the varieties

of circumstances

The

Character of Socrates

occurring in a great city, that he might discover what were &quot;the elements which furnish forth creation.&quot;

may judge from

the acquaintances of the

philosopher what were the minds most congenial to his own. Of his great contemporaries,

Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Euripides alone was his pupil and friend. He never at

tended the theatre only as his tragedies were to be performed. This warmth of feeling for the chaste and tender dramatist should defend his

mind from the imputation of

utter deafness to

and beauty. The majestic and sublime of not so intimately allied was Sophocles genius taste

to the every-day morals of Socrates

; Euripides taught more human nature in its com The oracle of Delphos justified aspects.

knew and

mon his

choice

that

remarkable

declaration

av-

The

iravTwv, ^co/cpdrrj^ o-o^ooraro?. fathers, with their usual grudge against

the heathen oracles, formed singular opinions The respecting this extraordinary decree. &quot;

The

Character of Socrates

is of the opinion that the Devil, delivered that sentence, by giving Soc

great Origen

when he

rates those partners purposely

whilst he

was

obscured his glory,

some measure forced

to applaud

it.&quot;

have attempted to draw the outline of one of the most remarkable minds which human history has recorded, its

and which was rendered

wonderful adaptation to the

extraordinary by times in which he lived. to our great task ority

must now hasten

of developing the moral superi

of the philosopher.

manly philosophy has named

temperance, and prudence

fortitude,

prime virtues. All in a of belonged, high degree perfection, to the son of Sophroniscus, but fortitude more particu larly.

Perhaps

its

was not a natural

the first-fruits of his philosophy. constitution was built up like his

virtue, but

A mind whose the will of

the philosopher moulding the roughest materials into form and order might create its own virtues,

and

set

them

aggregate of character.

array to

He was

compose the not like other

The

men, the

Character of Socrates

sport of circumstances, but by the per

severing habits

of forbearance and

self-denial

he had acquired that control over his whole being which enabled him to hold the same even, unchangeable temperament in all the extremes of his fortunes.

This exemption from the

influ

ences of circumstances in the moral world

almost like exemption from the law of gravita tion in the natural

economy.

The

tions of this fortitude are familiar.

exemplifica

When

all

the judges of the senate, betraying an unworthy pusillanimity, gave

way

to an iniquitous

demand

of the populace, Socrates alone disdained to sac the fear of the people. rifice justice to

On broken

another occasion, in the forefront of a battle, Alcibiades

ness of his master.

owed

his life to the firm

Patriotic

steadfastness in

resistance to the oppression of the Thirty is

recorded to his honor.

Tyrants Although we are un

familiar instances, we willing to multiply these would not be supposed to undervalue that milder

which Diogenes Laertius has lauded, The vieand which clouded his domestic joys. fortitude

tory over

The

Character of Socrates

human

habits and passions

bring them

which

shall

into such subjection as to be sub

servient to the real advantage of the possessor is

which philosophers de

that necessary virtue

nominate temperance. this particularly because

its

are led to speak of

existence in the char

acter of Socrates has been questioned.

The impurity of public morals and the preva lence of a debasing vice has left a festering reproach on the name of Athens, which deepens as the

and

manners of

improved.

and paragraphs formerly led rates.

have altered

equivocal expressions Dialogues of Plato have to fasten the stigma on Soc

in the

many

This abomination has likewise been

to the charge justice.

civilized nations

Certain

of Virgil, and probably with as

Socrates taught that every soul

laid

little

was an

immutable form of beauty in the divine that the most beautiful mortals ap and mind,

eternal,

proached nearest to that celestial mould ; that it was the honor and delight of human intellect to contemplate this beau

ideal,

better done through the

and that

medium of

this

was

earthly per-

The

22 fection.

For

Character of Socrates

this reason this

sober enthusiast

associated with such companions as Alcibiades, Critias, and other beautiful Athenians.

late article

in the Quarterly

Review, the

better to vindicate the character of Aristophanes

from the reproach attached to him as the author

The Clouds,&quot; has taken some pains to attack the unfortunate butt of the comedian s buffoon of

&quot;

It is

unpleasant at this day to find facts misrepresented in order to conform to a system, ery.

and unwarranted insinuations wantonly thrown out to vilify the most pure philosopher of an tiquity,

for

no other purpose than

to add the

interest of novelty to a transient publication. is

a strong, and one

able,

would think an unanswer

argument against the

allegation, that his

unsparing calumniator, the bitter Aristophanes, should have utterly omitted this grand reproach, while he wearies his sarcasm on more insignifi cant

follies.

Nor

did he pass

was not accounted a crime, of the age identical

by because

as if the fashion

the enormity ; for in this he introduces his Just Orator, play justifies

The

Character of Socrates

declaiming against this vice in particular and remembering with regret the better manners of better times,

when

lascivious gestures

were un

studied and avoided and the cultivated strength

of manhood was devoted to austere, laborious The whole character and public instruc virtue. tions of Socrates ought to

have shielded him from

imputation, while they manifest its utter When the malignity of an early improbability.

this

historian had given birth to the suspicion, the

who

often bore no good-will to Socrates (whose acquired greatness eclipsed their natural often employed their pens to confirm and parts), fathers,

diffuse

it,

and

owes

its

old currency chiefly to

their exertions.

We shall not speak particularly of the prudence He

of Socrates.

it abundantly, in the of the term, but philosophical signification none of that timorous caution which might inter

possessed

fere with the impulses of patriotism, duty, or

courage. It

seems

become

have been a grand aim of his life a reformer of the abuses

a patriot,

The

Character of Socrates

of morals and virtue which had become a national

He saw

country embarrassed, and plunging without help in the abyss of moral and excess made degradation. Dissipation calamity.

his

Athens their home and revelled with impunity. u Give us a was song of Anacreon or Alcaeus &quot;

common

the

had entwined

frightful voluptuousness about the devoted city, and

cry. itself

ultimate baneful

consequences had begun In these circumstances, when all eyes appeared to be blinded to the jeopardy by the fatal incantations of vagrant vine-clad Muses, its

work.

their

this

high-toned moralist saw the havoc that was

He desired to restore his country he would not treacherously descend to them.

in operation.

men

;

flatter

accomplish

this,

he selected a different

course from the ordinary plans of young men.

To after

an Athenian entering on life and aspiring eminence, the inducements to virtue were

weak and few, but

to vice numberless and strong.

Popularity was to be acquired among these de generate republicans ; not as formerly among

The

Character of Socrates

ancestors, by toilsome struggles for pre-eminence in purity, by discipline and austere their great

virtue, but flattery

by squandered wealth, profligacy, and

of the corrupt populace.

What,

then,

had an obscure young man, poor and friendless, to expect, sternly binding himself to virtue, and attacking the prevalent vices and prejudices of a This was certainly no unworthy great nation ?

prototype of the circumstances of the founders He devoted himself of the Christian religion. entirely to the instruction

ishing

them with

of the young, aston of doctrines

a strange system

which inculcated the love of poverty, the

for

giveness of injuries, with other virtues equally unknown and unpractised.

His philosophy was a source of good sense and of sublime and practical morality. He directs his disciples to know and practise the purest principles of virtue

;

to be upright, benevolent,

and brave; to shun vice, TO Orjptov^ the dreadful monster which was roaring through earth for his prey. The motives which he pre sented for their encouragement were as pure as

The

26 the

life

Character of Socrates

Such inducements

they recommended.

were held up as advancement in the gradations of moral and intellectual perfection, the proud

becoming more acceptable in the eye of Divinity, and the promise to virtue of com munications from other and higher spheres of delight of

The

existence.

God

notions of the nature of

which Socrates entertained were

infinitely

correct and adequate than those of any other philosopher before him whose opinions have

come down

to us.

Additional praise is due to him, since he alone dared to express his sentiments on the subject

and is

his infidelity to the popular religion.

God ?

hard,&quot;

&quot;

said the

&quot;

disciples to Plato.

What &quot;

It is

answered the philosopher, u to know, and

impossible to

which timorous

What

Here

divulge.&quot;

believers

God The

that reluctance

were obliged to

display.

they to Socrates, and he replied, God himself, who has great formed the universe and sustains the stupendous

&quot;

said

&quot;

work whose every

part

finished with the ut

most goodness and harmony

;

who

preserves

The them to

Character of Socrates

perfect in immortal vigor and causes

obey him with

rapidity not to be followed this

God makes

them

unfailing punctuality and a

by the imagination

himself sufficiently visible by the which he is the author, but

endless wonders of

This is continues always invisible in himself.&quot; and noble. He Let us not, continues, explicit &quot;

then, refuse to

behold, and

believe even

what we do not

supply the defect of our corporeal eyes by using those of the soul ; but especially let us learn to render the just homage let

of respect and veneration to that Divinity whose will it seems to be that we should have no other perception of him but by his effects in our favor.

Now

this adoration, this

pleasing him, and

doing his

These

homage, consists

can only please him by

will.&quot;

are the exalted sentiments and motives

which Socrates enforced upon men, not

in insu

lated or extraordinary portions of his system but

through the whole compass of his instructions. Convinced that the soul is endowed with energies

and powers, by which,

well directed, she strives

The

Character of Socrates

and climbs continually towards perfection, it was his object to stimulate and guide her ; to quicken her aspirations with

new

motives, to discover

and apply whatever might spur on conscientious endeavor or back its efforts with omnipotent strength.

wished the care and improvement

of the soul to be of chief concern, that of the

body comparatively trifling. The natural effect of his philosophy was to form an accomplished so perfect a pagan, with the state of society

be underrated.

man ;

and

was compatible

this state

should not

nation of disciples of Socrates

would suppose a state of human advancement which modern ambition and zeal, with all its superiority of knowledge and religion, might never hope to attain. And, could Athens have and her corruptors, and by ex sophists expelled hibiting respect for his instructions have extended

the influence of her most mighty mind until the restored and the chastity of her manners was

of her dotage displaced by active vir had her citizens then become the converts

infirmities

tues,

and advocates of Socratic sentiments,

she might

The

Character of Socrates

have flourished and triumphed on till this day, a free and admirable commonwealth of philoso

on phers, and looked with enviable unconcern all the revolutions about her that have agitated and swallowed up nations ; and Philip of Macedon and Mummius of Rome might have slept in But this is digression, and we can obscurity. offer

no apology except the pleasure which such must now proceed to say

a vision affords.

something of his ambiguous genius. The Sai/JLwv of Socrates partakes so of the marvellous that there

wonder

arising

no cause

for

from the difference of opinion

manifested in

its

to ascribe the

most

God

much

discussion.

Those who

love

to inspiration in the prophets

revealed religion claim this mysterious personage as akin to the ministering spirits of the Hebrew faith. Those who, with Xenophon,

not of this similarity, or who do not find foundation for this belief, look upon the ^aipav only as a personification of natural sagacity;

know

some have

charitably supposed that the philoso himself was deluded into a false conviction pher

The

Character of Socrates

that he enjoyed a peculiar

communication with

the gods by the intervention of a supernatural learned their will and accomplished their being,

These supposed claims which

ends.

laid to divine inspiration

carry their veneration to a more extent than we can safely follow.

are

plausible

willing

allow

arguments who have

philosopher in the

Socrates

have induced many

marvellous

they have considered the

that

more imposing view,

especial light of the world

commissioned from

heaven and as a distant forerunner of the Saviour himself.

Dr. Priestley, with a bolder hand, has comparison between Socrates and

instituted a

the Saviour himself.

are not disposed to

enter upon these discussions, as they do not lead It is prob to truth and serve only to bewilder. able that the philosopher adopted the successful artifice

of Lycurgus, referring his instructions to

higher agents in order to enforce their obedi With regard to the innocence of the ence. artifice, although perhaps no philosopher has a sincerer

reverence

for truth, yet the

doctrine

The

Character of Socrates

was but too common were

that

time that they

free to promulgate useful falsehoods

;

and

he imagined that the necessity of the case might acquit Lycurgus, certainly a falsehood of if

a more heinous nature would at present have

been

justifiable.

The entitled

death of this illustrious

him

man

has chiefly

The

to the veneration of mankind.

mild magnanimity which could forgive and justify its unjust oppressors ; the benevolence which forgot self and its pains and necessities in the ardor of instructing others ; the grandeur of soul

which disdained self-preservation purchased the expense of inflexible principle

the courage these are vir

;

which stooped not in extremity which the human understanding always must approve, and which compel admiration. We have heard much of triumphant and honor

tues

able deaths at the stake

or from natural causes in

martyrdom

or by sudden violence, of me-n who have died

for liberty, religion, or love

are glorious indeed and excellent.

;

these

But without

taking into consideration the allowance to be

The

Character of Socrates

made

for exaggeration

lous,

and the love of the marvel

should attribute

much

to the influence

of despair. An enthusiast is hurried suddenly from family and friendship and all the atmosphere of social life his joys and hopes and habits to the place of torture

and execution, to pay the The quick and penalty of adherence to a tenet. fearful change of circumstances bewilders and

overwhelms a mind ternal.

Morbid

easily affected

by things ex

sensibility takes the

place of

sanity of mind, and, but partially conscious of

he mechanically repeats the language on his memory ; and it follows written strongly that the ignorant mistake his imbecility for fear his conduct,

lessness,

and

his insensibility for blissful antici

pation of approaching glory.

Such cases are by

no means improbable, and a strict scrutiny of miraculous last words and dying speeches will find them. But in the sacrifice of Socrates there no shadow of a doubt on which incredulity might attach itself. The firmness and uncon is

cern with which he regards the approach of death there does not appear to j

are truly astonishing

The

Character of Socrates

have been the slightest accession of excitement, not the alteration of a degree in his mental tem He met his agitated friends with the perature. usual calm discourse and

deliberate

reasoning.

spoke upon the subject, it is true, when they frequently introduced it, but willingly acquiesced in the ordinations of superior intelligence, and his reason to unveil the sublime pur employed

poses of Providence. fortunate superstition of the Athenians fur

nished him with the opportunity of manifesting the sincerity and greatness of his philosophy, as the length of time between his condemnation and death enabled him to hold frequent inter course with his disciples. Human sincerity has

seldom passed a severer ordeal than did the prin ciples of Socrates. Notwithstanding the minute accuracy with which his every action has been detailed, we know not that the fortitude of which

we have spoken ment

ever abandoned him to a

behold him upbraid ing the pusillanimity, or soothing the sorrows, of those friends whose office it should have been, s

melancholy.

The

Character of Socrates

in the ordinary course

of circumstances, to

own

The

alle

dying agonies. dignity and of soul, everywhere predominant, is grandeur sustained to the conclusion of the great tragedy, viate his

till

are irresistibly led to bestow

upon the

pagan the praise of a perfect man. It is melancholy to turn from this heroic event,

mighty giving-up of the ghost, to the dark mur history of the causes and agents of so foul a

this

der.

should avoid

all

recurrence to

it,

and

save mankind the shock and blush of recollection, did

not

think that

some

palliation might be pleaded to soften this black disgrace on a name we so much love to venerate as that of

Athens.

When

the philosopher began

life

there

was

a freshness of glory diffused over his country which no after times equalled. There had been

magnificent

success

arms

and

arts,

and

achievements which overshadowed the great Hercules and names of their own romance,

Theseus and Achilles. These stupendous suc cesses, to which modern history does not pre-

The

Character of Socrates

tend to offer a parallel, had become familiar to them, and led them to that independence of character the ultimate effect of which was that

which distinguished the people of Athens.

caprice

was

natural, further beholding the full dis of their might, which had been thus glori play ously exhibited, that these republicans should It

acquire confidence in themselves, a fearlessness of contending interests about them, and of the

own actions, which was the from imparted political community as a whole to each separate state, and from the state consequences of their

to each individual.

youthful Socrates.

Such countrymen had the But he lived to see them

degenerate, and crouch to the despotism of the Thirty ; to submit to defeat abroad, and to fac tion

home. All this, however, had little on that caprice whose cause we have

effect

mentioned.

When

the anarchy of the Thirty

Tyrants was over, the impatience with which the people remembered their own submission only increased the action of their caprice

extraordinary

;

nor

an overflowing zeal to approve

The

Character of Socrates

themselves freemen should have made judgment hasty.

should rejoice

the death of Socrates

were referable merely

to this impetuous spirit of belongs chiefly to that general liberty debasement of morals which it was the passion ;

but

of Socrates to attack and reprehend.

Their

progress is sufficiently marked by the successive characters of the comedy, from its primal inno

cence to

its

third stage,

became fashionable which

when

that

grossness

stains the

dramas of

Aristophanes. But not only their anger at the man who reproached them with their vices induced them to offer violence to him, but likewise his infi

of their fathers, delity to the religion duction of

new

doctrines.

Grosser

and intro infidelity

than that for which Socrates suffered, and which his predecessors Anaxagoras and Archelaus had

wisdom enough to entertain but dared not avow, was openly proclaimed in the licentious theatre, and applauded by the multitude.

But there

The

Character of Socrates

some appearance of

plausibility in the

apology

for that inconsistency.

In the theatre, impiety excited strong feeling, s gratitude to the poet who could

and the people so faithfully

amuse them would

easily find apol

ogy for more glaring impropriety. But the phil osopher was the teacher of youth, who should do away with every improper impression, and might not be allowed to infringe upon the faith they had been accustomed to venerate. Besides, they came to the lectures of the sage with dis passionate minds, and there was no purpose of

warm

answered which might par don the introduction of what they termed pro feeling to be

fanity.

must confess

check and change the free religion.

When

tertains of his

that tide

hard to

of an ancient

old prejudices which man en are fixed ; when he is

Maker

reasoning himself into a consent to the laws of God which govern him ; when he has incorpo rated the

names and

know and make

attributes of those

his destiny

with

all

his

who views

The

of existence be

its

Character of Socrates

;

this religion

tendency what

may,

bad or good, he is con

till

error he will repel with indigna tion the power that came to rend and shatter

vinced of

its

the whole constitution of his soul.

The memory of

Socrates

was vindicated from

calumny by the subsequent sorrow of the Athe nians, who endeavored to atone for their crime by honors splendid

unavailing. Lysippus costly tribute of their respect, and the vengeance of the senate fell upon the

executed

the

accusers, in punishment adequate to their guilt. He was Socrates led a sanctimonious life.

abstemious,

and

his

whole

demeanor corre

sponded with the coarseness of his features and the deformity of his person. By harsh disci pline he endeavored

wants so

far as to

subdue

his

make them merely

corporeal subservi

ent to the mental advantage, yet never carrying it to anything like that excess of Indian super

which worships God by outraging nature. This unnatural expression of courage has been stition

The called

man

Character of Socrates

an assertion of the dignity of man.

nature wants no such champions. must hasten to take our leave of the

illustrious

Grecian.

school, he did its

As to

the head of the Ionic

found true philosophy on

legitimate basis than any other master.

consider

how much

When

this individual fulfilled

of the great duty which every man owes to his that of crowding into a little life fellowmen, the most extended benefit, and contributing the strength of his soul to the aggrandizement of the species,

men can cope

shall

acknowledge that few Lord Bacon, the

with him.

foremost of those few, did not irreproachable character.

come up

to his

The

Present State of Ethical

Philosophy

The

Present State of Ethical

Philosophy [A Bowdoin Prize

Dissertation of i8zi]

the present system of things began being, and the eternal relations of mat

WHEN its

were established, the constitution of moral It began with science was yet to be founded.

ter

with man s first the social human condition, sense of duty to his Maker and to his fellowIt has remained in permanent eternal man. principles, designed to regulate the present life

and to conduct the human race to their unseen and

final destinies.

Its

development was

later

with rude and unworthy beginnings, in which

Advancement was long scarcely perceptible and always uncertain, and blessed with no charter of exemption from the difficulties of error. For a was extricating itself from the conse quences of mistake, and improving its condi time

sometimes, however, making a false step and plunging deeper into gulfs of absurdity and

tion,

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

pollution;

respectable

has finally placed itself on ground in the circle of human

but

knowledge. It were a bold and useless enquiry, and lead ing back beyond the limits of human informa tion, certainly claiming the

apology of interest

and importance, to ask what surpassing mind conceives the germ of moral science, or how It it was communicated from heaven to earth.

and eternal offspring of other worlds, and conferred on this by interposition which no discoveries might anticipate.

was the

beautiful

shall briefly sketch the history

of ethical

philosophy, and notice some prominent distinc tions which separate ancient from modern ethics,

we proceed to consider the present state of the science. before

find irregular

and casual hints of moral

science thrown out by the most distinguished ancient Greek poets, descending, as is supposed,

know remotely from primeval revelation. of none, however, among the first schools of Grecian philosophy, who set himself apart for

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

the sublime purpose of gathering up the rela tions which bind man to the universe about him.

Ethics were not thus early separated from the immature, misunderstood sciences of logic and metaphysics.

The

world was not old enough

to have accurately parcelled and distributed her science into professions. The amassed stores of

experience were not then overflowing her garners, now, when ages of industry have elapsed to

define and multiply the offices of her stewards.

Believing, as the philosophical ancients appear world as they found it has

to have done, that the

forever subsisted, and should continue to sub sist,

and that an inscrutable Fate overruled their

destinies,

who might make them,

at pleasure,

demigods or nonentities after death, they had but scanty encouragement for any grand and holy system which the ardor of virtue might Enthusiasm was chilled induce them to form.

by the awful, unrevealing silence which pre vailed over nature, and the sanctions which it supplied were inadequate to the support of a great religious faith.

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

Some, astonished at the lustre and enchant ment with which this visible world was illu mined and renewed, imagined the possibility of a more intimate connection between man and nature, and hence arose the mysteries of EleuThe sis, and the doctrine of natural magic. &quot;

religion of

Egypt,&quot;

Madame

says

de Stael,

&quot;

the

system of emanations of the Hindoo, the Per sian adoration of the elements, are vestiges of

some curious the

universe.&quot;

tion

;

attraction

which united man

recognize,

these attractions

fortunate

with

our condi

scientific

delight,

they are material, still they are the agency of Deity, and we value them as subservient to the great relations we seek and ;

pant after, in moral attractions,

from

his

affinities

and

intellectual

moral influence.

But the

high and adventurous ends which these inter preters proposed to themselves were unan

swered and afterwards perverted in corrupt times. Others among the ancients were fain to be lieve the voice of long descended tradition, and awaited the return of the departed gods with

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

of ample dispensations, and piously congratulated themselves on the security of human condition under the protection of the

golden

age

Providence.

Others threw themselves head

long on the comfortless creed of the administra tion of chance, and scoffed at the hopes and terrors of all, as distempered dreams.

To this frail and fleeting order of beings, per secuted by the same natural obstructions to pos sible aggrandizement, the progress of ages has unfolded, and immediate revelation sanctioned, a system of morality so complete and divine, and its promises attended with presentiments so rich of glory hereafter, as to exalt and assimi late the species to the boldest forms of ideal

excellence.

date the reduction of ethics to anything system from the time of Socrates.

like a separate &quot;

Socrates videtur, primus ab occultis rebus et a na-

tura ipsa involutis, in quibus ante eum philosophi occupati fuerunt, philosophiam avocavisse et ad communem

vitam

adduxisse.&quot;*

* Cic. Acadcm. Quaestiones.

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

Others before him had been ambitious of

dic

government of kings and or locked had empires, up their results and con

tating laws for the

clusions in costly manuscripts, so that their in fluence upon the public was remote and insig

But

philosopher extended of the people in the body the first of and communicated to his world, city a to not amuse disciples, hieroglyphical scripture nificant.

his

wisdom

this patriotic

to the

the learned and

awe

the ignorant, but practical

rules of life, adapted immediately to their dition

and character, and

little

con

infected by the

To the inquisitive he un age. folded his system, and the laws and dependen The grandeur of his views cies of morals. dogmas of the

regarding the Deity far outwent those of his con temporaries, whose malice exposed him to op

probrium as a blasphemer. There is an impor tant circumstance attached to Socrates, which that should not be forgotten in ethical history, from him is derived the modern custom of

grounding virtue on a single principle. In treating of things which are^W, by which

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

he meant virtuous^ he declares just

which are agreeable

all

things to be

to the laws.

Modern

improvement acknowledges this to be a flimsy and fallacious criterion, which must necessarily under every

vary

which state

different

government, and

sufficiently indicates the then imperfect

of morals.

In the beginning of the seventeenth century, Inductive Philosophy tri when Bacon s &quot;

&quot;

umphed over

Aristotle,

and the authority of the

Grecian sage began to decline, multitudes united fall. The indignation of the zeal

to accelerate his

ots against his errors

went beyond bounds, and

proceeded to abolish his empire in those depart

ments where

deserved to remain entire.

Such

violent zeal will probably create a reaction at some future period. The ethics of Aristotle

have been

little

read, and serve only to aston with the comprehen

ish the occasional student

sion of

remark and the advancement of knowl

edge which they contain. Aristotle

pursues different views of morals

from the moderns, and

exhibits

unexpected

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

of ideas, unconnected, indeed, by phil osophical association ; he occupies himself long and tediously in ascertaining definitions and in trains

drawing the boundary

lines

of moral and math

ematical philosophy, and thus manifests the in fancy of the science, but discovers an intellect

which was acute an

hend,

unequalled

and Plato,

to devise and vast to

intellect series

which belonged

compre to

that

commencing with Socrates among the sons of Adam,

alone,

qualified to institute

and methodize the science

of morality. After the ages of Grecian refinement, during

which

all

the

sciences

burst into

premature

perfection, the Stoics exhibited rational and cor rect views of ethics,

Zeno, and, long

after him,

his illustrious disciples, Epictetus, Arrian,

and

Antoninus, maintained the doctrine of a supreme Intelligence, of his universal provi dence, and of the obligation

are under to

and acquiesce in his deci sions as necessarily right and good. Cicero, though the ornament and herald of

conform

to his will

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

philosophy in his age, did ment of its principles. elegant

philosophy.

for the

Cicero

What was and

profound he polished

man on

little

advance

admired

uncouth or

simplified

;

for

ever pictured to himself such ethereal beauty, for the wor and classical high earth

ship of imagination, as this distinguished Roman. Cicero was an eclectic philosopher ; he entered

the schools free from the sourness of pedantry

which the pride of philosophy was and hallow. His genius led him theories and systems with a to seek something to light,

pardon

explore sole view to de

employ his insa His usefulness to moral

tiable

imagination. is the same in kind, though superior in degree, to that of modern essayists ; his elegant effusions inspired a delight to investigate the

science

topics of

which they

treated,

a desire

which

twenty centuries have not abated in the breast of liberal scholars.

With Seneca and Marcus Antoninus the line of ancient moralists, and with

chief praise of

human

closes

them the

ingenuity and wisdom.

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

philosophy never made such vast proficiency as at the time elapsing between Soc rates and Antoninus. After this time the Unassisted

Christian religion comes in, supplying the de and correcting the errors of morality, and

fects

establishing

on the whole a grander system

;

but

human

ingenuity alone never soared so high as the epoch we have marked. during From these philosophers, ethics were deliv ered

down

to the Christian fathers with all the

new motives and sanctions opened by revelation. With all their parade of schools and disputa tions, the fathers did little to settle the

tions of morals.

They

wrote

much

founda

about them,

and collected the crude materials for others to analyze.

They endeavored

show

a contra

and revelation, and to substitute their expositions of the one for the

riety in the laws of reason

But the obscurity and the narrow views

plain dictates of the other.

of the monastic

which were the

Roman

cell,

upon each succession of Priesthood, were unfavorable to

entailed

grand apprehensions of moral science.

Some

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

of them were sufficiently familiar with Greek Roman philosophy to take up the subject on proper grounds, but it was beyond the force

and

of minds perverted by bigotry to continue as had been begun.

The

history of this hierarchy must always remain a phenomenon in the annals of the

world.

The commissioned

apostles of peace

and religion were seen arming the nations of Europe to a more obstinate and pernicious con test

with

than had ever been fatal

hostility,

known

;

and pursued

with seven successions of

bloodshed and horror, on the crimson cross.

till

its

dye was doubled

Not content with

this,

the ambitious popes were embroiled in perpetual

crowned subjects, and from contest the consecrated robber reaped

disputes with their

every new some new

acquisition to enrich the the church.

domain of

In the theory of this ecclesiastical govern ment, a different and graver character should naturally have been expected from the vicar of From the nature of the institution, Christ.

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

great results in intellectual science might reason ably be expected from the peaceful and educated

Neither domestic relations nor labors

clergy.

them from these pursuits, and we can hardly ascribe their failure to want of motive. The difficulty

to obtain a livelihood interfered to deter

seems

have been lodged in the very

spirit

which pervaded and characterized the whole church, that of choosing darkness rather than a perverse obstinacy of ignorance. To light, exhibit a system of morals, entire and in

all its

parts, requires a powerful faculty of generaliza tion,

free

which

nourished only where opinion is is valued ; it requires, also,

and knowledge

an accurate discrimination, accustomed to op pose subtlety and sophistry with ambidexter in genuity, and a complete emancipation from big otry, the besetting sin of the Roman church.

With

the torch of revelation in their hands,

find the Christian fathers inculcating the neces of silly and degrading penances, the offering sity

whim

or delirium, or bidding the transgressor Holy Land, in order to propitiate

repair to the

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

The Hindoo

the favor of the Deity. far

beyond them

thou be

not,&quot;

his

had gone

u If

moral estimates.

says the lawgiver

Menu,

&quot;

riance, by speaking falsely, with Yama, the subduer of all, with Vaivaswata, the punisher, with that great divinity

who

dwells in the breast, go

not on a pilgrimage to the river Ganga, nor to the plains of Guru, for thou hast no need of ex piation.&quot;

the rapid advancement of the collateral

philosophy of the mind by the spring imparted

by Bacon and Descartes, ethical speculations were matured and improved. It was useless to disclose defects in the culture of the moral ers

till

taught

pow

the knowledge of the mental operations

how

they should be amended and regu

lated.

With Lord Bacon our remarks have

less

con

nection than with his less illustrious contempo raries, for in contemplating the science of mor als

we have only to speak of who have analyzed,

the classifiers and

not the sages who have recommended and applied it. A sketch

theorists

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

of the science has no more concern with the beautiful

sentiments

contains or occasions,

than the nature of the

owners through which

An much

soil

with the different

its title

had passed.

important controversy which has been agitated

whether

among modern

benevolence or

philosophers,

selfishness

the

arose chiefly from the ma ground of action, levolent spirit of Mr. Hobbes, whose shrewd

speculations discovered to society that relations

were

artificial

and grotesque

;

all

their

and that

nature, which they had ignorantly judged to be so sublime and aspiring, would lead them to the

character and circumstances of bears and tigers. This opinion that nature tends to savageness

and stupidity is not true. For the impulse to exertion, which urges all our faculties to their is very powerful and prompts men to social intercourse, where alone delight in they have their widest range. moral exertion of active power, and ex every

highest possible degree,

claim against every retrograde step, and against sloth, the antagonist vice, as the brother of ig-

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

Few men, probably,

norance.

feel

any inclina

tion to perform the experiment of weakening the

magnet

;

all

prefer to see

its

power accumula

The

system of fanatic philosophy which ting. in the course of time was the result of these

Mr. Hobbes, and the accursed of whose prevalence were abundantly

speculations of fruits

reaped in France, sweeps away

which we owe

to others

;

this

all

the duties

would elevate the

ostrich to a higher rank in the

scale of merit

and wisdom than the man, old and honorable,

whose parental

affection dictates actions of wise

and profound calculation. Dr. Cudworth attacked the system of Hobbes, in his Immutable Morality,&quot; with ability and &quot;

success, and

modern opinion has concurred

boldest positions.

The

fine

in his

remarks of the elo

quent Burke may be extended to moral nature Nature is never more truly herself than in her :

&quot;

as grandest forms ; the Apollo of Belvedere is much in nature as any figure from the pencil of Rembrandt, or any clown in the rustic revels of Teniers.&quot;

After Cudworth

we must mention

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

Dr. Clark, Dr. Price, and Bishop Butler

;

and

naming Reid, Paley, Smith, Stewart, we com list of modern moralists.

plete the

After any review of the history of the science the question becomes important, In what re spects does its ancient and modern history dif fer

The

be the same

truths of morality must in all ages the praise of its teachers consists ;

in the ability manifested

satisfactory

morals

far

their

development. development of these truths in

difficult

ences, for the tenure

which

than in other

faculties imperfect as ours

such objects

in steady

sci

exceedingly delicate

view

;

and

by can long retain it is

a sagacious

somewhere made in the Edinburgh Review, that our feelings are never in their natural state when, by a forced revocation of observation,

them, we can attentively study their aspects. Its fundamental principles are taught by the moral sense, and no advancement of time or

knowledge can improve them. It is

otherwise in the sciences which detect

and measure the elements of matter;

there,

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

great advancements may hereafter be made, and what are now regarded as profound and ultimate discoveries

may

at a

distant period be looked

and elementary speculations ; upon of the golden promises of alchemy many, perhaps, may be realized, for we have not derived from as superficial

nature any ultimate acquaintance with the con But in morals, stitution of the external world. what is known now of the good and evil pro pensities of the heart,

and of the modes of cor

recting and regulating them, was known two thousand years ago to every discerning and con

man, and Druid speculated with Druid much in the manner that a modern phi

templative

losopher, with

all his imagined immensity of converses with his friend on the improvement, of This is abundantly ordinary topics morality.

proved by the circumstance which almost inva riably attends promulgation of a philosophic theory,

that

authors

antiquity, and that

which

Pythagoras,

pounded before.

start is

up to prove

the identical

Plato,

Pythagoras

or is

Epicurus

its

theory

pro supposed to have

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

borrowed from the Druids

his imperfect

moral

system.

shall

enumerate the chief points of dis The most which has ethics.

tinction in

modern

been done

boundary

the tracing with great precision the of the systems in order to adapt

lines

them, more and more accurately, to the known relations of truth.

The moderns ings of a

of antiquity.

have made their ethical writ

practical character than the sages It

common

to accuse

them of

having written on such subjects as admitted of much display, to have paid more regard to the

The

author than to the reader.

ancients bal

anced the comparative excellence of two virtues or the badness of two vices they determined the ;

question whether solitude or society were the better condition for virtue. The moderns have substituted inquiries of deep interest for those of

would ask, in only speculative importance. what of discussion Aristotle or Socrates passing, can compare, in

this respect,

with the train of

reasoning by which Dr. Price arrives at the con-

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

elusion that every wrong act is a step to tremendous in the universe.

all

61 that

Unlike the

arts, science

The

proceeds.

becomes simpler

old enumeration of the elements

has been subjected to scientific analysis until number has been largely multiplied, and we

their

are perhaps

of nature.

still

far

removed from the

simplicity

in morals, the first speculators

were propounders of theories which they could not explain, perplexing mankind and themselves with abstruse, ill-digested systems. As it pro gressed, light and simplicity began to be intro

duced into moral philosophy, but it was always a study which the indolent and mere man of taste abhorred. The moderns have struck nearer the root; they have brought in this simplification

by laying down maxims

morals and proposing from mathematical

to introduce demonstrations

analogy. In the the duties

modern systems of ethical philosophy whose performance constitutes virtue

are ranged under three classes

regard

we owe

;

viz., those

to the Deity, those

whose

which we owe

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

those which

others, and

regard ourselves.

Morality founds these duties on the will of the Creator as expressed in the constitution of the world, and in revelation. In ascertaining the will of God it does not always proceed on the prin ciple

the

that

greatest

intended, for that this

possible true,

happiness

we cannot know;

judged safer to reason from adaptation and The object of these reasonings is to analogy.

confirm the decision of the moral faculty, which recognized as an original principle of our

by which we directly determine the merit or demerit of an action. In an

nature,

these views

intuition

man

least to all the

regarded as a free agent, at purposes of which we have any is

conception, possessed of appetites, desires, and affections

The hope

which he

opened to

to regulate

and control.

his aspirations

a future

the energies of rational creation look forward, promised by reve life

of retribution to which

lation

all

and confirmed by adaptation and analogy.

Next of man,

to these, philosophy explains the rights as, paternal rights, the rights

of person

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

and property, implying the right of self-defence. These are better understood now than formerly. Prior to the precise defining of the limits of obligation and right, the paternal authority was extended by the laws of Rome over the life as

well as fortunes of the son, until the father should voluntarily resign it. This dangerous paternal prerogative could not be tolerated at the

The wisdom

present time in civilized nations.

of experience has determined that such an insti tution operates to the mischief of both ; by in vesting the father with the power it tempts him become a tyrant, and the son of a domestic

tyrant

was

peculiar

which

rarely virtuous himself.

it is

There

are

in morals of

remarkable force, necessary to name.

traits

Moral philosophy recognizes a leveling prin ciple which makes void the distinctions of intel lect

and the pride of erudition.

such a rule should be found

It is

fit

that

in the world, else

the universe would present an aristocracy odious to God and man, where the splendid but pro

faned

gifts

of genius would entitle the possessor

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

to the thrones of angels; where then should we look for humble energies, though perhaps entirely devoted to the cause of virtue. In the eye of the of annuls the praise prostitution Deity genius

its

acquisitions,

and the improver of one

tal

ent shall be amply repaid for its proper merit. It is intended that genius should be counter balanced by worth, and this prevails so far that

perhaps in another state the scale which now measures greatness may be entirely reversed.

There

another

distinguishing feature

morals which deserves notice, and which bears that a series of some analogy to the last,

humble

efforts is

more meritorious than

miracles of virtue.

The

solitary

former are unpretend

ing and unnoticed, opposing more obstacles to pursuit with less outside honor to allure imita

the latter excite applause, and as their occasions necessarily occur seldom, are of less tion

;

utility to

the general welfare.

For example, the

patience of an obscure individual

who

endures

for years the peevishness or fretful disdain of

another,

still

preserving his

own

susceptibility,

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

and

at the last feels

for

the offender,

every emotion of benevolence a nobler martyrdom than

Or supposing of Curtius exhibited

Regulus or Curtius underwent. the case that the private the character

we have

life

merit thus to suffer than to sacrifice.

was a greater perform his renowned

described,

For the human mind

so constituted

expand on extraordinary calls for sentiment and strong feeling to meet the occasion with as to

adequate

effort

a susceptible

;

and

man

this spring will

alone prompt even with

to great sacrifices,

out fixed principles of virtue. Hence all the inducements which this excitement and the love

of fame present subtract from the moral merit ; let any man ask himself in moments of high

and

excitement, whether, had he been placed in parallel circumstances with the Roman, could he

have hesitated a

moment

plunge into the

yawning abyss.

have sketched the leading characteristics

represented by modern teachers, by Reid, Paley, Stewart. But there have been always connected with this science

of ethical science as

it is

The

disputes tue.

Present State of Ethical Philosophy-

on the nature of happiness and of

The

vir

ancient sectarians, in their distinctive

moral tenets, only embodied the ideas which every man conversant with ethics entertains of happiness in different

When

moods of mind.

his contemplations are religiously pure,

he ac

knowledges the truth of Socrates and the

Stoics,

who

placed felicity in virtue ; when his mind is relaxed and his heart and taste excited, he im agines the chief good to reside, as the Cyrenaics supposed, in pleasure, or, with the Epicureans, in tranquillity of

mind

;

and when he recollects

these vacillations of opinion, he unites with the

doubting Pyrrho to found happiness on an abso lute

exemption from scruples and the confession is no constant nature of good and

that there evil.

The most

lations

ingenious theory which has been proposed to reconcile these futile specu

developing

this

his

theme

Mr. Hume

scheme of

excitability

who,

and ex

citement, did not attempt to prove the existence of any single splendid quality attainable by the

few alone, but

establish

universal

equi-

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

librium of capacity for enjoyment and pain. Old systems indicated some one external quality or affection of the

mind

as happiness

;

the pres

of mind, without regard to the particular objects of con templation. Whatever may have been the views ent plan discovered

which dictated

in the condition

this theory,

certainly discovers

great philosophical sagacity. In the ardor of reducing all science to

mate

principles,

ulti

from Socrates to Paley, virtue

has shared largely in these attempts of philoso One maintained a balance among the phers. ; another, action according to the fit ness of things. Wollaston urges the truth, and Goodwin the justice of things. Dr. Paley at

affections

tempted to reconcile all on the principle of ex All understand by it the same thing, pediency. It a conformity to the law of conscience. is

only a dispute about words.

Mr.

Hume

(whose acknowledgment of

daily

contradiction to his theory every one is prone to remember) has attempted to undermine the

foundations of belief, and to represent the eter-

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

nal truths of morality as involved in the

same gloomy uncertainty with which he would en velop all knowledge. Entrenching himself behind his system, which can find no relation between cause and effect, he wanders on till he has effaced

own

memory, judgment, and,

consciousness

become

idle

;

and the laws

dreams and

finally,

our

of morals

fantasies.

This outrage upon the

feelings

human

nature cannot be supported by any dexterous use of argument. If this only be fact, mankind will be content to be deceived

of morals which it is

and

;

the system

hold to be true be a dream,

dream of a god reposing in Elysium ; who would desire to be awaked from the the

sublime deception ? To this pernicious inge has been opposed the common-sense phil nuity

osophy of which Dr. Reid is the chief champion, which aims at establishing a code of propositions as axioms which no rational being will dispute, and, reasoning from these, to refute the vision

Mr. Hume and Bishop Berkeley. These reasonings as yet want the neatness and

ary schemes of

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

conclusivcness of a system, and have not been made with such complete success as to remove the terror

which attached

to the

name of Hume.

become prevalent to speak slight man, either lest the ignorant should suspect him to be an overmatch for the has lately

ingly of this great

orthodox philosophers, or in order to infidelity that irresistible

upon Such a course of conduct is

quiry

such a

retaliate

weapon, a

sneer.

injudicious, for in

not likely to sleep in such an age, on subject ; and if there be formidable

doubts to which no unanimous solution can be

formed,

it is

philosophical, as well as

manly, to ascribe to

own

human

short-sightedness

necessary defects, for the

end of

all

its

human

confessedly ignorance. way to determine the perfection of the present state of ethics is by examining how inquiry

The

far

they

may

only fall

short of the condition at

which we

human improvement

to reasonably expect After ages of separation from our present

arrive.

being

shall

these estimates.

be more competent to adjust Every man is liable to be mis-

The

70 led

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

his personal

improvement, and an

vidual arrived at that period of life day discovers a new set of ideas

indi

when every

is prone to mistake the rapid development of his own powers for an accession of light which has broken upon

In topics of this nature there is also danger lest minute details of some portions which have had peculiar interest for him intrude upon the age.

his notice so as

occupy a disproportionate

must content ourselves part of the picture. with making observations on the condition of society and

its

causes so far as they relate to

ethics.

Much modern

has been done in the higher ranks of society by English periodical essays. the elegant classics of the age, they

Ranked with

have penetrated where treatises professedly moral would never have come. This is combating vice in

its

high places with

its

own weapons.

The most abominable evil becomes seductive by an unnatural union with elegance, and corrupt genius has accomplished immense mischief by It insinuating that we abhor what we admire.

The is

just

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

that virtue should avail itself of the

same

advantage and embellish moral truth with intel Here there is no disgusting lectual beauty. antipathy or repulsion to be overcome

;

they

combine perfectly, and in their results we should expect from mankind the creation of demigods.

Very much has been claimed

for

The Spec

tator in rooting out, first, the lighter follies

fashion, and afterwards invading vice of a darker character, particularly gaming and duelling.

From

appears that the real good done to mankind has not been overrated, and the authors of the Tatler, Spectator, Ram bler,

the facts adduced,

and Adventurer deserve the praise which They have

Socrates and which Cicero merit. diffused instruction

and inspired a desire

in those

studious of elegant literature to inquire, by un folding in pleasing forms the excellence of virtue

and by taking advantage of that principle in our nature which induces us to enjoy, with satisfac tion and delight, pictures of finished virtue. They have censured the turpitude of wit and recom

mended

virtuous

feeling

so artfully that

the

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

strains could evil

not displease.

Eternity,&quot;

said

&quot;The

Johnson,

&quot;

good and

are too

pon

derous for the wings of wit,&quot; but it may sus tain its share of the burden and prepare the way for science to soar.

From

these causes of the vast propagation of in the world is derived the chief knowledge

advantage of modern ethics,

that they are disseminated. It is everywhere only from very extensive comedy in the departments of litera ture that the tone and character of prevalent

conversation which belonged to any period can be faithfully transmitted. Hence if we institute a comparison between the ordinary colloquial intercourse of ancient Rome and Greece on the

one part and modern

civilized

nations on the

are obliged to resort, in forming our other, ideas of them, to the influence of their political condition, and

the diffusion of knowledge

which we know them But judged

have enjoyed.

in these respects,

modern

society

found to outstrip the maturest progress of In every family of ordinary both these nations.

will be

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

advantages in the middle ranks of life the great questions of morality are discussed with freedom

and intelligence, introduced as matters of specu lation but as having foundations of certainty like

any other science.

In the lowest orders of the

people the occurrences of the day are debated, the prudence or folly of politicians and private

conduct examined, and all with a reference to know the principles of ethical science. Anciently, such views were confined to small

Out of

philosophers.

the

circles

schools they were

regarded as things of remote and partial interest, much as we regard the useless subtleties of the

Now these discussions are connected

schoolmen.

with the domestic arrangements of every house hold and are associated with every recollection of his childhood

which the man

upon afterwards.

This

retains

and acts

diffusion of the

knowl

edge accumulated upon these topics, although it does not multiply new terms of technical value

nor unfold delicate discoveries to the subtle meta physician,

philosophy

is ;

and best interest of yet the true for it marks the boundary line of

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

truth and speculation,

settles the foundations

of the science to be in the opinions of men, and thus confers the only legitimate immortality upon its

constitution and results.

The last view in which we propose to consider our subject is the influence of the present ad vanced acquaintance with ethics on political science.

This influence

to be perceived, but

not subtle or

difficult

perfectly plain and obvious.

After the decline of the

Roman

church the

lower orders in Europe had no Indian Brahmin to tell them that in the eternal rounds of trans migration their souls could never rise above the jackal ; and the license which the press imme diately created tended directly to enlighten

and

Such books as Machiavel s emancipate them. whether Prince,&quot; designed to favor them or not,

&quot;

could not fail to open their eyes to the bondage under which they groaned. When at length moral discussions, which before were strange and

began to be under stood and they comprehended the nature of a train property and government, things were in unintelligible to their ears,

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

of amendment, and popular investigation could not be averted. There could be little hope left after the peasant had learned that the professed object of the robed and reverenced legislator was to repress all those

to oppressive despotism

&quot;

to produce more pain than to and pleasure, promote all those which tend to

actions

which tend

The results produce more pleasure than pain.&quot; of this progress have been distinctly manifested in the gradual demolition of the feudal system, by the rise of the

commons

Europe

;

secondly, by

development of the science of Represen tation ; and lastly, by the rebellion of the people against the throne, everywhere manifested either the

full

dangerous symptoms or in actual revolution. the statesman this crisis becomes alarming ;

he surveys national embarrassments with regard to their immediate consequences, and that con tinent

crowded with

politicians portending tre

mendous events about to ensue. But the moralist regards this commotion as the inevitable effect of the progress of knowledge which might have been foreseen almost from the invention of print-

The

76 ing,

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

and which

must proceed, with whatever

disastrous effects the crisis

attended, to the

calm and secure possession of equal laws which it was intended to obtain.

We are ibility

rights

and

prone to indulge ideas of the perfect

human

nature,

when we

anticipate the

condition of future ages, and attempt to form estimates of their moral greatness. In contem plating a science whose very object is to perfect the nature of man, imagination oversteps uncon sciously the limit, to depict miraculous excellence

which poetry promises and philosophy dares not expect. is

made must go on

The

first

in the school in

and Stewart have labored. in

desires but

true advance

which

which Reid

Philosophers must own ideas with

terms and discover their

agree regard to the moral sense, or, as others term it, the decisions of the understanding. They will moral maxims perhaps form the proposed code of

and look no longer

for

many

ultimate principles.

not necessary to make a moral arithmetic, as Bentham has done, but it is necessary that they should persevere in accurate classifications ; and It is

The

when

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

length the possessors of the science shall in their principles, the precepts of

have agreed

acknowledged

right

must

find their

way

into the

councils of nations.

The

plague spot of slavery must be purged thoroughly out before any one will venture to predict any great treaties

suffering of subsist

sole

consummation.

must be kept

inviolate

millions,

between

all

The

faith

even to the

partial

and the pandects which

the civilized nations

memorial of human fellowship

that

must be

Abolishing the thousand capricious policies which dictate the conduct of states, there must be substituted the one eternal

religiously observed.

policy of moral rectitude.

the

The

establishing of

American government we esteem

powerfully to these objects,

which the unclean

spirit

as tending

government into

of barbarous and unequal

institutions has not entered, but

which was formed

of enlarged knowledge and lib Should these eras of perfection

in the very spirit eral notions.

which imagination

anticipates arrive,

we must

cease to speculate with any reference to the

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

progress of science

an advancement,

science can sustain such

;

must terminate

Ethics

here.

are only the alphabet of the perfection of rational nature ; it here becomes an elementary recollec

and useless any further. is a sketch of the progress and present condition of morals, of its objects and charac tion,

Such

teristic features,

and of

its

prospects.

cussion of this science carries with

mendation, highest

that

human

states

which we

assertion of the

that,

;

Every dis recom

this

independently

opens, we only begin spec shall continue in more exalted it

of existence.

to other sciences

new

privileges

of the view which ulations

The

interest

which belongs

and short-lived

partial

;

the

and physical researches do not awaken the same enthusiasm in the young enquirer and in

arts

the

man who

lingers

on the

old age of the moralist

studious years,

when he

experience and

much

limits

life

;

but the

the harvest of

many

gathering in longresults and solutions, the fruit of much expected is

solitary

thought; and as

The

human fixed

imperfections fade before him, his eye

on richer

To it is

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

become

acquisitions.

a fervent scholar in this science, its objects and ten constituted the rule by

only necessary to learn

dencies.

Morality

which the world must

stand.

The

laws which

govern society are only compends, more or less The departure imperfect, of natural morality.

from

this

law

the

decay of

human

glory.

Formerly, moral corruption struck the blow at Assyrian, Grecian, and Roman magnificence, and at this day sapping the stability of European Amid the violent convulsions of monarchies. is

the political world produced by this energetic principle of desolation, it is well to withdraw ourselves from so wretched a spectacle, to search out the sources in the passions of individuals. It is

ennobling thus to place ourselves on an

eminence from whence we survey at once the whole history of legislation and refer to our

knowledge of

ethical truth in judging of the

or bad

of laws.

spirit

in letters, if

good is

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

refined study to examine and compare the litera ture of different nations and follow the flight of different

reasons

muses,

it is

why they give

refined to discover the

pleasure, to trace the moral

which created them, and the reciprocal influence which they claimed on morals. influence

But

its

chief eulogy consists in its effect on It obliterates the impure lines

the individual.

which depravity,

error,

and example have written

upon the mind, and

having erased these first impressions, and abolished crime which is engen dered by them, substitutes sentiments and pre cepts

which promote the happiness of man, whose

exercise generates pure and tranquil enjoyment, and which the Divine Being will justify and

reward.

Happiness

incompatible with con

sciousness of danger; the sense of insecurity poisons the passing delight with the constant

apprehension of its loss ; but nothing can alter the peace of mind which dwells, by a divine necessity, with unblemished virtue

;

it is

perpet

ually advancing towards new relations of lectual splendor and moral sublimity.

intel

The

Present State of Ethical Philosophy

We are justified other science

;

in preferring

morals to every

for that science has

more perma

nent interest than any other, which, outliving the substance on which other knowledge is founded, is

to retain

resolved into

its

relations

spirit.

That which

when man

constitutes the

health integrity of the universe should be

known

as far as that universe extends to the intelligences

which imbibe and enjoy the benevolence of Author.

its

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