Page:Philosophical Review Volume 2.djvu/60

46 authority,—on the one hand to the Church, and on the other to Aristotle. Modern philosophy yields to no authority, but, facing freely the problems of the universe, seeks a solution which shall force irresistible conviction upon every intelligence. In the modern attempt to establish morality on an independent foundation, i.e., independent of special revelation and of ecclesiastical authority, the notion of the law of nature was the first principle seized upon. If we examine the moral philosophy of Aquinas, two points present themselves on which, conceivably, an independent, rational morality might be founded,—(1) the acquired virtues, (2) the law of nature. It was the latter of these principles which actually served as the starting-point of modern ethics. The need of a new moral philosophy was first felt in politics. Renaissance and Reformation together had undermined the traditional confidence in the old authorities. Whenever there was a difference of faith between king and subjects, a new question as to the duties of allegiance was raised ; and now that the general supremacy of the Pope over the nations was no longer recognized, a new theory was required to determine the relations and duties of independent states to one another. It was for the purpose of solving the problems arising from the changed relations of nations, that Grotius composed his epoch-making work, De Jure Belli et Pacis,—the work which is universally recognized as the foundation of the modern system of international law, and which also made the beginning of independent ethics in modern Europe. The basis on which he erected his system was the old Stoic theory of the law of nature as it had been handed down by the Roman jurists and ecclesiastical moralists.

In England the beginning of moral philosophy was the theory of the state propounded by Thomas Hobbes. According to Hobbes, man by nature is impelled only by self-interest, and all moral norms spring from the state and are determined by the civil law. The original state of nature was a condition of war of every man against every 'other man. In this state of affairs there was no law and no morality. Since reason, however, directs each to seek his own good and preserve his own