adopted other beliefs. The relation of ethics to religion is a problem
that the student of ethics can scarcely set aside. It seems, then,
that the study of ethics necessarily carries us back to world problems
which cannot be approached except by the path of philosophical
reflection. We shall see in Chapter XX that the theistic problem
certainly belongs to this class.

It is worthy of our consideration that the vast majority of writers on
ethics have felt strongly that their science runs out into metaphysics.
We can scarcely afford to treat their testimony lightly. Certainly it
is not possible for one who has no knowledge of philosophy to
understand the significance of the ethical systems which have appeared
in the past. The history of ethics may be looked upon as a part of the
history of philosophy. Only on the basis of some general view as to
nature and man have men decided what man ought to do. As we have seen
above, this appears sufficiently reasonable.

73. AESTHETICS.--Of aesthetics, or the science of the beautiful, I
shall say little. There is somewhat the same reason for including it
among the philosophical sciences that there is for including ethics.

Those who have paid little attention to science or to philosophy are
apt to dogmatize about what is and what is not beautiful just as they
dogmatize about what is and what is not right. They say
unhesitatingly; This object is beautiful, and that one is ugly. It is
as if they said: This one is round, and that one square.

Often it quite escapes their attention that what they now regard as
beautiful struck them as unattractive a short time before; and will,
perhaps, when the ceaseless change of the fashions has driven it out of