ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author illustrates the role that reason, desire, knowledge, belief and related phenomena have in various aspects of moral and ethical life, in contrast with the tendency towards rationalization and abstraction that these concepts attract in much philosophical debate. In doing this, his reading of Aristotle has emphasized his concern with moral character, rather than reading him as attempting to establish a theory of Action which will yield formal principles to determine what it is good to do and bad to do. Purposive engagement in an ethical community involves being of a certain moral character, which in turn involves knowing Actions, activities, practices, etc. as good and evil in themselves, rather than having abstract conceptions of good and evil, under which headings human conduct is categorized. The aim of Hegel's discussion of conscience is to bring out the practical nature of good and evil.
