It is proposed that the effective two-nucleon potential in nuclei may be investigated through the direct reaction process in high energy nucleon inelastic scattering. Both DWBA and Glauber's manybody high energy approximation are used in treating the inelastic scattering problem. The effective potential between nucleons within the nucleus has been assumed to have various exchange properties and the spin-orbit term, in the derivation.The differential cross sections and polarization angular distribution for the inelastic scattering of 185 MeV nucleons by C12 with excitation energies 9.6 and 22.3 MeV are calculated. Particle hole model wave functions are used for the nuclear states. All these experimental curves of differential cross section and polarization can be fitted very well with a reasonable set of potential parameters.