ABSTRACT
The answer to this question would be (probably) affirmative or negative according to the character, or even the temporary mood, of the questioner. The plan of a house on paper is assuredly nothing at all for a man craving immediate shelter, but in certain other references it might be regarded as almost everything. In regard to a theory of Ethics, especially where even the fundamental basis is a matter of controversy, such a " form " as that given above will be a very haven of rest to the tired enquirer. Few men have been more alive than Green to the pressing urgency of practical questions, but he would plead with Aristotle1 So£eie ¿' av 7ravròç èivai irpoayayeiv KCLI eiapOpaxrcu Ta KOXOÙÇ eypvTa TY¡
7repiypa<pi¡, KÜI O \povoç TWV TOLOVTCOV evperrjç \] crvvepyoç
ayaOòç eivai. Even if we admit the value to be rather negative than positive, it is no small gain to be delivered from moral anarchy-to gain possession of a definite principle which, if it does not issue of itself a practical command at this or that moment, is ever ready as a criterion to which we may refer a suggested line of action. Time is a sure " fellowworker" in this matter. If we honestly attempt to realize and develop the actual institutions among us
which "make for righteousness," their permanent good, as well as their temporary limitations, become increasingly clear. " Of what ultimate well-being may be, we are unable to say anything, but that it must be the complete fulfilment of our capabilities . . . but of particular forms of life and action we can say that they are better, or contribute more to true well-being than others, because in them there is a further fulfilment of man's capabilities, and therefore a nearer approach to the end in which alone he can find satisfaction for himself."1 We have to our hand a "better," which is the necessary step on the road to the " best," and must be found in the actual concrete life about us. The " Form " of virtue is constant, but the " Content " is ever changing.
