A Handbook of Ethical TheoryFullerton, George Stuart
Philosophy
A Handbook of Ethical Theory
Fullerton, George Stuart
Ethics
Civilization, taken generally, scarcely needs a labored justification
because it is only in a civilization of some kind or other that we can
look for a guarantee of the broad social will, for the reign of reason.
Undeveloped man is at the mercy of nature; he is the sport of history.
Where developed man can raise his voice, man possessed of power and
capable of taking broad views of things, the rule of reason may be set
up. A deliberate attempt may be made to recognize many wills, harmonize
discords. Order may be brought out of chaos, and the limits of the realm
within the borders of which order reigns may be indefinitely extended.
Such is the general ethical justification for the rise of a civilization.
It is an expression of, and an instrument for the realization of, the
broader social will. That a given civilization may be imperfect in both
respects has been made clear in the last chapter. In the light of the
general justification for civilization many questions may be raised
touching this or that element in civilizations as we observe them.
Thus, it may be pointed out that as man progresses in civilization he
calls into being a multitude of new wants, many of which may have to
remain unsatisfied. [Footnote: Compare chapter xxx, Sec 142.] It may be
asserted that literature, art and science are, in fact, cherished as
though they were ends in themselves, and not means called into existence
to serve the interests of man. Absorbing as it may be to him, how can the
philologist prove that his science is useful to humanity either present
or prospective? How shall the astronomer, who may frankly admit that he
cannot conceive that nine tenths of the work with which he occupies
himself can ever be of any actual use to anyone, justify himself in
devoting his life to it? Shall a curiosity, which seems to lead nowhere,
be satisfied? And if so, on what ground?
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