The field of ethics

"In these lectures I propose to offer an introduction to ethics of a somewhat novel kind. An introduction might properly enough sketch in outline the principal doctrines of moral science. It might analyze the working of the will, and its relation to perception and the cognitive process. It might explore the origin of the moral sentiments; or might attempt to determine the ultimate aim by which, however remotely, conduct is directed. I shall adopt none of these wise methods, but shall simply try to fix the place of ethics in a rational scheme of the universe. I wish to see how it is parted off from neighboring provinces of knowledge, and what kind of being he must be who is the object of its study. Why should there be a science of ethics at all, I ask. Is it an invention of scholars? Or, if all treatises on it were blotted out to-day, would the toiling multitude reconstruct them to-morrow? This is what I ask, and the answer is that they certainly would. The matters with which ethics is concerned are such as we cannot fail to meet continually. They permeate life. They affect every occupation in which man engages. They consequently enter into many sciences besides ethics. It is only the way in which they are surveyed which renders them ethical. I want to show how necessary this ethical way is, and how distinct from every other mode of regard"--Chapter. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).