WITH QUOTATIONS AND REFERENCES FOR THE BY WILLIAM FLEMING, D.D., LATE PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1867. The right of Translation is reserved. PREFACE. MORAL PHILOSOPHY is the Science of human duty. The knowledge of human duty implies a knowledge of human nature. To understand what man ought to do, it is necessary to know what man is. Not that the Moral Philosopher, before entering upon those inquiries which peculiarly belong to him, must go over the Science of human nature in all its extent. But it is necessary to examine those elements of human nature which have a direct bearing upon human conduct. A full Course of Moral Philosophy should consist, therefore, of two parts: the First--containing an analysis and illustration of those powers and principles by which man is prompted to act, and by the possession of which he is capable of acting under a sense of duty; the Secondcontaining an arrangement and exposition of the duties incumbent upon him as the possessor of an active and moral nature. As exhibiting the facts and phenomena presented by an examination of the active and moral nature of man, the First part may be characterized as Psychological, and as laying down the duties arising from the various relations in which man, as a moral agent, has been placed; the Second part may be designated as Deontological. |