Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/30

 we base our moral judgments, our judgments of the moral value of actions (Chap. IX.).

Then we ask whether the rightness and wrongness of actions depends on their motives or their consequences, and whether any general reasons can be given why we should do right actions and abstain from wrong ones (Chap. X.).

This leads to a recognition of the importance of duty, and a discussion of its place in the moral life (Chap. XI.).

Is duty inconsistent with pleasure? What is the significance of pleasure in life? (Chap. XII.).

We conclude that pleasure is not the only thing in life, nor is duty the only thing in life. They may come into conflict; but the good man will find that his pleasure consists in doing his duty in his own station in the community. Thus he realises his character, and fulfils his vocation (Chap. XIII.).

In the next chapter we consider the relation of character and vocation to the various virtues or types of goodness which we find realised in human actions (Chap. XIV.).

And in the last chapter we examine, in the light of character and vocation, the importance of the four great institutions of the moral life, the Family, the Church, the State, and the School (Chap. XV.).

For further reading: J. S. Mackenzie: Manual of Ethics, Introduction; J. H. Muirhead: Elements of Ethics, bk. i.; J. Dewey and J. H. Tufts: Ethics, ch. i.