Moral obligation is the recognition of the necessity of respecting the essentially reasonable order of things. But this intellectual conviction must be supplemented by the love of a free will for this order. This rational, free, and generous love for the order of beings is the essence of the virtuous act. Compensation is to be found in the state of happiness, which, according to the nature of things, infallibly accompanies the practice of the moral law.
Every science must have some definite end in view: it must not content itself with an orderly array of facts alone, but must assimilate and digest them for the accomplishment of a set purpose. Politics, in the sense of a science of state-government in its widest application, also seeks fundamental concepts to be built up into an organized whole. But the following questions naturally arise in this connection: does political science, in the search for these concepts, make only a priori assumptions; and of what nature are they? On what basis should the state act? Need it trouble itself about moral standards? A review of historical or economic facts cannot reveal normative standards. The teachings of ethics make it apparent that purposes are relative to some ultimate end; and that moral evaluations are subjective, not objective. Even philosophy and its special department of metaphysics cannot be of service in this respect. The principle of "highest good" cannot be found in any theory of the purposive existence of the universe, because such a theory is itself biased by a subjective point of view of moral ends.
But, although philosophy can be of no assistance in the establishment of premises, an investigation of the methods of statecraft can possibly reveal them. An organized science of so general a nature, which forces its decrees indiscriminately upon mankind, must evidently possess some sanction, because it seems to be so successful in its task. The science of politics appears to derive its authority from the fact that it assumes as its own 'highest good,' the standards which the individual citizens hold collectively. The most common ideal of mankind is self-preservation. Since society and the state in a measure realize this ideal and do so economically, they are advantageous institutions to the individual. Statecraft, then, is based on the standards of the people of the state, rationally applied to problems of government. The ethical value, the intrinsic metaphysical purpose of the principles, is not a problem for political science. Its problem is: with these moral standards acknowledged by the people, how can they be best governed?
There is a tendency at the present time to interpret Christianity as an ethical system rather than as a religion. This is due to the enthusiasm for social
