GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

ARISTOTLE'S MORALS AND POLITICS 87
arguments in their support, and in reaching them contrive!
to let drop a number of observations about the conduct
of human life, which are as original as they are profound,
Aristotle's outstanding characteristics are wisdom and
common sense. The Ethics, with which we are in this
Chapter primarily concerned, exemplifies these qualities
in a very marked degree. The book consists lately of
lecture notes and has, therefore, little form and no polish,
while the fact that it culminates in no formal doctrine
purporting to cover the whole field of ethics, makes it
difficult to say what Aristotle's general ethical theory is.
Nevertheless, it is impossible to read the Ethics without
realizing that one is making contact with a great mind
engaged in the process of writing, or, it may be, talking,
memorably about human life. Indeed, there is no other
work on ethics with which I am acquainted which contains
so much incidental wisdom, and is so consistently informed
by common sense, an uncommon possession, especially
among philosophers.
Ethics not an Exact Study. The absence of formal
doctrine Aristotle would be the first to admit, but I
doubt if he would feel disposed to apologise. At the outset
of his Ethics he draws a distinction between theoretical
and practical science. Theoretical science deals with
matters which cannot be otherwise: two sides of a triangle,
for example, must be greater than the third: two parts
of hydrogen and one of oxygen must constitute water;
they cannot help themselves. Geometry and chemistry
belong, therefore, to the realm of theoretical science.
But the motives which lead men to act, no less than the
consequences of their acts, are complex and variable,
nor is it possible accurately to determine the one, or
confidently to predict the other* Ethics, then, deals with
matters which "may be otherwise ", and the student is,
accordingly, explicitly warned against expecting too
much; against expecting, for example, a general recipe
for good conduct which will apply to all men in all cir-