Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/617

Rh ETHICS 595 will is similarly independent of reason, and that the divine ordering of the world is to be conceived as absolutely arbi trary, a point on which he was followed by the acute in tellect of William of Occam (d. 1347). This doctrine is obviously hostile to all reasoned morality; and in fact, not withstanding the dialectical ability of Scotus and Occam, the work of Thomas remained indubitably the crowning result of the great constructive effort of mediaeval philo sophy. The effort was, indeed, foredoomed to failure, since it attempted the impossible task of framing a cohe rent system out of the heterogeneous data furnished by Scripture, the fathers, the church, and &quot;the Philo sopher&quot; equally unquestioned, if not equally venerated, authorities. Whatever philosophic quality is to be found in the work of Thomas belongs to it in spite of, not in consequence of, its method. Still, its influence has been great and long-enduring, in the Catholic Church primarily, but indirectly among Protestants, especially in England, since the famous first book of Hooker s Ecclesi astical Polity is to a great extent taken from the /Summa Theologize. Partly in conscious antagonism to the erudite labours and dialectical conflicts of the schoolmen, yet with close affinity to the central ethico-theological doctrine which they read out of or into Aristotle, the mystical manner of thought continued to maintain itself in the church. Philosophically it leant upon Neo-Platonism, but always blending the Christian element of love with the ecstatic vision of Plotinus, and sometimes giving the former a decided predominance. In its more moderate form, keeping wholly within the limits of ecclesiastical orthodoxy, this mysticism is represented by Bonaventura and Gerson ; while it appears more independent and daringly construc tive in the German Eckhardt, advancing in some of his followers to open breach with the church, and even to practical immorality. lu the brief account above given of the general ethical view of Thomas Aquinas no mention has been made of the detailed discussion of particular duties included in the Summa Theologian; in which, for the most part, an excel lent combination of moral elevation with sobriety of judg ment is shown, though on certain points the scholastic uUtry pedantry of definition and distinction is unfavourable to due Jesu- delicacy of treatment. As the properly philosophic interest of scholasticism faded in the 14th and 15th centuries, the quasi-legal treatment of morality came again into promi nence, borrowing a good deal of matter from Thomas and other schoolmen. The best known Summce Casuum Con- scientice, compiled for the conduct of auricular confession, belong to the 14th and 15th centuries. As the chief of these we may mention the Astesana (14th century) and the Angelica (15th century) by two Franciscans, Astesanus and Angelas de Clavasio respectively. It was inevitable that, in proportion as this casuistry assumed the character of a complete and systematic penal jurisprudence, its precise determination of the limits between the prohibited and the allowable, with all doubtful points closely scru tinized aud illustrated by fictitious cases, would have a tendency to weaken the moral sensibilities of ordinary minds ; while, again, the more industry and ingenuity were spent in deducing conclusions from the diverse authorities accepted in the church, the greater necessarily became the number of points on which doctors dis agreed ; and the central authority that might have repressed serious divergences was wanting in the period of moral weakness x that the church went through, be tween the death of Boniface VIII. aud the counter- 1 The refusal of the couucil of Constance to condemn Jean Fetit s advocacy of assassination is a striking example of this weakness, (. f. Mihuan, Lat. Christ., book xiii. c. 9. Information. A plain man perplexed by such disagree ments might naturally hold that any opinion maintained by a pious and orthodox writer must be a tolerably safe one to follow; and thus weak consciences might be subtly tempted to seek the support of authority for some desired relaxation of a moral rule. It does not, however, appear that this danger assumed formidable proportions until after the Reformation ; when, in the struggle made by the Catholic church to recover its hold on the world, the principle of authority was, as it were, forced into keen competition with that of private judgment for the guidance of men s consciences. To the Jesuits, the foremost champions in this struggle, it seemed indispensable that the confessional should be made attractive ; for this pur pose ecclesiastico-rnoral law must be somehow &quot; accommo dated &quot; to worldly needs ; and the theory of &quot; Probabilism &quot; supplied a plausible method for effecting this accommoda tion. The theory proceeded thus : A layman could not be expected to examine minutely into a point on which the learned differed; therefore he could not fairly be blamed for following any opinion that rested on the authority of even a single doctor ; therefore his confessor must be authorized to hold him guiltless if any such &quot;pro bable &quot; opinion could be produced in his favour ; nay, it was his duty to suggest such an opinion, even though opposed to his own, if it would relieve the conscience under his charge from a depressing burden. The result* to which this Probabilism, applied with an earnest desire to avoid dangerous rigour, led in the 17th century were revealed to the world in the immortal Lettres Provinciates of Pascal. Th e Re in tracing the development of casuistry we have been forma- carried beyond the great crisis through which Western * ion - Christianity passed^ in the 16th century. The Reformation JJJ J which Luther initiated may be viewed on several sides, modem even if we consider only its ethical principles and effects, ethical apart from the political and social aims and tendencies with P 1 &quot; 10 &quot; which it was connected in different European countries. $0p 7 It maintained the simplicity of Apostolic Christianity against the elaborate system of a corrupt hierarchy, the teaching of scripture alone against the commentaries of the fathers and the traditions of the church, the right of private judgment against the dictation of ecclesiastical authority, the individual responsibility of every human soul before God in opposition to the papal control over purgatorial punishments, which had led to the revolting degradation of venal indulgences. Reviving the original antithesis between Christianity and Jewish legalism, it maintained the inwardness of faith to be the sole way to eternal life, in contrast to the outwardness of works ; returning to Augustine, and expressing his spirit in a new formula, to resist the Neo-Pelagianism that had gradually developed itself within the apparent Augustinianism of the church, it maintained the total corruption of human nature, as contrasted with that &quot; congruity &quot; by which, according to the schoolmen, divine grace was to be earned ; renewing the fervent humility of St Paul, it enforced the universal and absolute imperativeness of all Christian duties, and the inevitable unworthiuess of all Christian obedience, in opposition to the theory that &quot;condign&quot; merit might be gained by &quot;supererogatory&quot; conformity to evangelical &quot;counsels.&quot; It will be seen that these changes, however profoundly important, were, ethically considered, either negative or quite general, relating to the tone and attitude of mind in which all duty should be done. As regards all positive matter of duty and virtue, and most of the prohibitive code for ordinary men, the tradition of Christian teaching was carried on substan tially unchanged in the discourses and writings of the Reformed churches. Even the old method of casuistry waa