Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1889-04-06

clal instinct mas Satisfaction III Hpclet(i
the Initiating instinct inds sratihcatloh
through the Imagination whose activity
consists in combining Initiated features
taken from nature.
The mQujrmg propenstie, Of man Gre.
ate science and philO4OuhU his socially
ethics; his initiating faculties are the
source Of the so-called Fine Arts.
What are the Fine Arts; Proceeding
rpon various unplausihlp theories as to
the origin of the artistic impulse, the
jdpall-tic philoyouhers arrived at the
same fallariou4 urepo-ition that the sole
end of art is to afford pleasure, and has
therefore to be limited to the province
of the beautiful.
Even Herbert Spencer, whose system
of rhilo.opby leads to nfprrncpl of an
extremely realistic character. adopt,
which are ANYTHING hut 0mosed to the
Old notion Of the object of art. For if
artistic activity is derived from -urpIu,
and dormant energy Of higher orders
as play Is der}eaTrom superliuous lower
powers, as the great philosopher CLAIMS
see his "Psy'hology,' Part IL. chapter
ON -E7thetlcal Sentiments then art Is
rightly monopoIlzed by the pIea9urable,
since the distinction which Spencer
makes between the useful arts on the
one hand, and play and the Fine Arts
on the other, IS that while the former Is
subservient to a process conducive to
life, the latter two, play and Fine Arts,
are qualifications IN themselves.
According to this definition of art a
complicated game Of chess ought to be
referred t) the realm Of art, for, in the
first place, it is intended as an outlet for
the unemployed mental powers, and IN
the next yields immediate pleasure.
ON the other hand Spencer's doc
trlnI is open to the objection that the
true artist does not merely give his SUI
pertiuou5 effort to his work, 1t is in
reading a book on philosophy that he
gives vent to his thinking powers. Ac-
cOrding to Spencer's criterion, it would
seem that the abstract reasoning of the
artist is art.
As ia the oupsti0n Of subserviance 70
n hfe. hpninp process. the great thinker
seems TO leave ont of view the pleasure
derived by the mechanic crowded he is
we'll fitted. both by nature and TRAINING
for his occupati1n. and il not over
worked nor dominated ovprl from the
very process Of his work The process
Of baking the bread is as deliohtfuI to
the housewifn as the nointin0 of the
landscape is to the artist As to the use
of the bread, TO the pleasure afforded hv
it to the eater, it corresponds to the
pleasure the pictIlre Owes to the ohsar-
YER. Both the uictnre and bread are
intended to meet some of the necpssar
los of life. both are n source of nIeoonra
to the consumer while fine nrdcags NJ
producing them is grateful 70 the nro.
durer. Where is the difference In =
we'll regulated community admittino If
no misdirected effort, where each mem.
her is empIoynd in the line to which he
is adanted Inv the bent of his natural
powers. the born naintpr will NOT derive
more pleasure from his work than the
born blacksmith from his
In accordance with this definition art
cannot and should not he diyided into
initiative and unimitativo 90 II - oenor
allv done, for as we have spen tba and
Of fine imjtatiye ACTIVITY ia NOT 90 n,nrh
to copy the outside natnre sto STIMULATE
the sensations which if evokes in rs
Music is thus intended TO initiate the
emotion Of sorrow fear wrath fri.
umnb That's wbv an nytromalv nal
ancholy tune, while extracting tears
from our eyes, gives us pleasure. 1t is
the sensation it reproduces which fills
us with shooting grief; it is, on the
other hand, the qualification of this imi-
tative impulse which sweetens this grief
for us. 1t is not at all necessary for
the sounds to resemble those of nature
the very essence of the combination of
the nOtes-melody recall a sensa-
ton through the association of ideas
Indeed, even the painter, whose domain
is Classed among the initiative arts, not
always initiates nature in the literal