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Psychology. What is my purpose, what am I to do? is the subject of
Ethics. These questions are closely related, and the answer given to
one largely determines the solution of the others. The truths gained
by philosophical thought are not confined to the kingdom of abstract
speculation but apply in the last resort to life. The impulse to know
is only a phase of the more general impulse to be and to act. Beneath
all man's activities, as their source and spring, there is ever some
dim perception of an end to be attained. 'The ultimate end,' says
Paulsen, 'impelling men to meditate upon the nature of the universe,
will always be the desire to reach some conclusion concerning the
meaning of the source and goal of their lives.' The origin and aim of
all philosophy is consequently to be sought in Ethics.

I. If we ask more particularly what Ethics is, definition affords us
some light. It is to Aristotle that we are indebted for the earliest
use of this term, and it was he who gave to the subject its title and
systematic form. The name _ta ethika_ is derived from _ethos_,
character, which again is closely connected with _ethos_, signifying
custom. Ethics, therefore, according to Aristotle is the science of
character, character being understood to mean according to its
etymology, customs or habits of conduct. But while the modern usage of
the term 'character' suggests greater inwardness than would seem to be
implied in the ancient definition, it must be remembered that under the
title of Ethics Aristotle had in view, not only a description of the
outward habits of man, but also that which gives to custom its value,
viz., the sources of action, the motives, and especially the ends which
guide a man in the conduct of life. But since men live before they
reflect, Ethics and Morality are not synonymous. So long as there is a
congruity between the customs of a people and the practical
requirements of life, ethical questions do not occur. It is only when
difficulties arise as to matters of right, for which the {11} existing
usages of society offer no solution, that reflection upon morality
awakens. No longer content with blindly accepting the formulae of the
past, men are prompted to ask, whence do these customs come, and what
is their authority? In the conflict of duties, which a wider outlook
inevitably creates, the inquirer seeks to estimate their relative
values, and to bring his conception of life into harmo