Page:Ferrier Works vol 2 1888 LECTURES IN GREEK PHILOSOPHY.pdf/456

Rh The action itself is good or bad by its conformity to, or difformity from, the rule of conscience; but the man is good or bad by the will;" and foll. (Vol. iii p. 630, ed. London, 1836.)

40. In connection with this topic, I may introduce a short discussion, which has application not to the ethics of Aristotle only, but to all ethical systems whatever. I ask, what is it that we pronounce our moral judgments upon? And I answer, that it is always upon the will, either of ourselves or others, that these judgments are directed. This may not always appear to be the case; for sometimes we seem to be judging the act without considering the will at all. How is this to be explained? How does it happen that the act appears frequently to be that which we judge, while in truth it is always the will of the agent on which a judgment is really pronounced. The answer is, or at least part of the answer is, that it is only by and through the act that we can know the mind or will of the agent. We can read no heart but our own, and even our own we read but imperfectly. The spirit of man lies enshrouded in secrecy till it leaps forth into action. Thus we only know the mind of others when shown in some act exterior to themselves, and in which the inner workings of their spirits have been made as we think visible. Our love and hate are thus suspended at first, at least, not directly on the will of the person whom we judge, but on the exterior symbols or