The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-07-22

solely or even mainly In the opinion Of man
Kind. or In the rewards and punishments Of
the magistrate or In tho hopes and terrors Of q
future world. but In the answer Of good con-
science. approving Virtue and disappearing
Vice. and In the love Of Q God who. BY His inf
mite wisdom and His oil -embracing bensncsncs.
10 worthy Of the love and admiration Of His
creatures" Here. too. II We strike out the Or
ticles OF Bhnftesbury's religious creed and keep
In view precisely what he meant BY conscience.
We shall have an afflrmance to which no excep-
ton can bs taken BY those partisans OF tha
evolutionary hypothesis who recognize In
altruistic impulses q veritable conscience.
An interesting feature OF Shuftesbury's
Theory Of Ethics IL tho ease with which 1t ad-
mits Of translation into q theory OF aesthetics.
He conceived both beauty and morality a. In
herent properties; the one OF external objects,
the other Of actions and characters. He
thought. moreover. that both properties are
apprehended under the samo conditions and
after the same manner. and he saw In morality
only beauty In one Of Its higher stages. Called
upon TO explain aud Justify his view upon this
point Shaftesbury would point out that We
have an instructive ssnas Of harmony and pro-
portion. As applied to external objects. It Is
the sense OF beauty: % applied to human &C.
tions. characters. aud dispositions. It Is tho
moral sense land lastly when applied to tho con-
tomplaton OF the universal frame OF things and
the government OF the universe. 1t becomes Q
religious sense BY which We apprshsnd the SUI
preme beauty. Tho reader will no doubt OBJ
serve how much Shaftesbury's theory. that
morality and beauty arc merely different ap-
pllcations OF the same fundamental principles
Of harmony and proportion. has In common
with the modern criticism. which advocates the
prosecution Of art for arts sake which refuses
a. Ill H.. H.
and maintains that a picture or . poem 10
moral tso far ~ the term Ia pertinent ut ALI In
proportion to the completeness with which tho
innate sense Of harmony and proportion 10
satisfied.
Hutcheson. on the other hand. was careful to
distinguish betwocn a sense Of beauty and .
moral sense. He held that tho instructive feel
Ing Of qualification or repugnanoe with which
actions arc regarded could By NO analysis be
resolved into An apprehension Of proportion
and harmony. Hutchinson was careful also to
discriminate the moral faculty or impulse from
the moral standard which IL reached by u de-
liberate act Of judgment In defining the test
or criterion OF right action. Hutcheson antici-
pated tho unitarian standard. and 1t IL curl
Gus to note that he employs the very phrase
which afterward became SO celebrated In the
mouth Of Bsntham. Perhaps we cannot do
better than to quote this interesting passage
BY way Of concluding our brief review OF
DR.. Fower's account Of two English
philosophers who are likely. rs wo have
said. to DO read with renewed attention.
now that men are attempting to recon-
cile the old ethics and Asthetios with
modern science. In comparing" says Hutch
eson. the moral qualities OF actions In order
to regulate our elections. among various ac-
tions proposed or to ind which Of Thorn has