Moral System
Section 2 - XIII.
The principle of the ends of things
183. The maxim, `We must act in accordance with the ends of things, is also excellent, provided we accept it with certain reservations, and without judging it by strict scientific standards. Otherwise, it would be neither totally clear nor adequate as the supreme principle of morality. The word `ends itself is equivocal, because every single thing has internal and external ends, which refer to the good of the entire thing. Other defects which concern the substance and expression of the principle exclude it from the ranks of truly scientific propositions. For example, it forbids us to act against the ends of things but does not tell us whether we must also positively act in accordance with them, nor how extensive our activity must be in support of these ends. As a moral principle it would at least lack universality.
184. The maxim presupposes that the things with which we find ourselves in relationship have not yet obtained their end. But morality also imposes on us certain things relative to natures which have already obtained the end of their existence, or have this perfect end within them, as God does.
On the other hand, the principle I have proposed includes our duties towards all natures, perfect or not, whether they have obtained or not the end for which they were made.