The amount of immediate satisfaction experienced in securing
goods is no criterion whatever of their relative rank. Yet
that is precisely the standard by which large numbers of men
determine their action. It is the standard of the brute. Our
definition guards against this error, saying: "interpreted with
reference to the end of his being and activities." It may be
objected that our definition is open to the charge of indefinite-
ness as its supposes the "end of his being" to be known, and
philosophy has not yet settled what that end may be. Some
philosophers say that it is " to glorify God and to enjoy Him
forever," others hold the view tersely set forth by a recent
scientific lecturer that it is "to perpetuate the species, and to
care for the same." It might be to our advantage if the end
of our being were recognized with the general agreement that
exists as to the sum of two and three. A man's conduct, no
doubt, will vary with the conception he may have of the "end
of his being," and yet there are limits to the conceptions he
may have of that end. There are depths of absurdity never
reached, unless in the vagaries of the insane. No one has ever
yet set forth the thesis that it is the end of man's being to
make himself the most mischievous fellow possible, or to be



MORAL GOOD 59

the worst man, the most impious man possible, or to make the
world the most uncomfortable place possible for his fellows to
live in. It is remarkable that even those whose lives might
lead us to suppose that they had so conceived the end of life,
in the apologies they make for themselves, are in haste to dis-
claim such a thought. Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, and the
modern bomb thrower will all protest that their crimes were
wrought in the interest of some portion of humanity. And even
the grog makers and grog venders would fain pose as temperance
advocates, and not at all as promoters of drunkenness. 