The Principles of Aesthetics | Page 6

tree and moss and mushroom, so the
student of aesthetics is commonly a lover of beauty. And, although the
interest which he takes in aesthetic theory is largely just the pleasure in
possessing clear ideas, one may question whether he would pursue it
with such ardor except for the continual lover's touch with picture and
statue and poem which it demands. For the intelligent lover of beauty,
aesthetic theory requires no justification; it is as necessary and
pleasurable for him to understand art as it is compulsive for him to seek
out beautiful things to enjoy. To love without understanding is, to the
thoughtful lover, an infidelity to his object. That the interest in aesthetic
theory is partly rooted in feeling is shown from the fact that, when
developed by artists, it takes the form of a defense of the type of art
which they are producing. The aesthetic theory of the German
Romanticists is an illustration of this; Hebbel and Wagner are other
striking examples. These men could not rest until they had put into
communicable and persuasive form the aesthetic values which they felt
in creation. And we, too, who are not artists but only lovers of beauty,
find in theory a satisfaction for a similar need with reference to our
preferences.[Footnote: Compare Santayana: The Sense of Beauty, p.
11.]
More important to the average man is the help which aesthetic theory
may render to appreciation itself. If to the basal interest in beauty be

added an interest in understanding beauty, the former is quickened and
fortified and the total measure of enjoyment increased. Even the love of
beauty, strong as it commonly is, may well find support through
connection with an equally powerful and enduring affection. The
aesthetic interest is no exception to the general truth that each part of
the mind gains in stability and intensity if connected with the others;
isolated, it runs the risk of gradual decay in satiety or through the
crowding out of other competing interests, which if joined with it,
would have kept it alive instead. Moreover, the understanding of art
may increase the appreciation of particular works of art. For the
analysis and constant attention to the subtler details demanded by
theory may bring to notice aspects of a work of art which do not exist
for an unthinking appreciation. As a rule, the appreciations of the
average man are very inadequate to the total possibilities offered,
extending only to the more obvious features. Often enough besides,
through a mere lack of understanding of the purpose of art in general
and of the more special aims of the particular arts, people expect to find
what cannot be given, and hence are prejudiced against what they
might otherwise enjoy. The following pages will afford, I hope,
abundant illustrations of this truth.
Finally, aesthetic theory may have a favorable influence upon the
creation of art. Not that the student of aesthetics can prescribe to the
artist what he shall or shall not do; for the latter can obey, for better or
worse, only the inner imperative of his native genius. Yet, inevitably,
the man of genius receives direction and cultivation from the aesthetic
sentiment of the time into which he is born and grown; even when he
reacts against it, he nevertheless feels its influence; a sound conception
of the nature and purpose of art may save him from many mistakes.
The French classical tradition in sculpture and painting, which is not
merely academic, having become a part of public taste, prevented the
production of the frightful crudities which passed for art in Germany
and England during the present and past centuries. By helping to create
a freer and more intelligent atmosphere for the artist to be born and
educated in, and finer demands upon him when once he has begun to
produce and is seeking recognition, the student of aesthetics may
indirectly do not a little for him. And surely in our own country, where

an educated public taste does not exist and the fiercest prejudices are
rampant, there is abundant opportunity for service.

CHAPTER II
DEFINITION OF ART
Since it is our purpose to develop an adequate idea of art, it might seem
as if a definition were rather our goal than our starting point; yet we
must identify the field of our investigations and mark it off from other
regions; and this we can do only by means of a preliminary definition,
which the rest of our study may then enrich and complete.
We shall find it fruitful to begin with the definition recently revived by
Croce: [Footnote: Benedetto Croce: _Estetica_, translated into English
by Douglas Ainslie, under title _Aesthetic_, chap. i.] art is expression;
and expression we may describe, for our own ends, as the putting forth
of purpose,