The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-08-07

Tolatoi does not deem Il worth while to quote
the definitions OF beauty attributed to the an
Glen ts-Socrates. Plato. Aristotle, DO. down 70
Plotinus-because In reality. the ~Rnctents had
not that conception Of beauty sharply separated
from goodness which forms the basis and aim
OF aesthetics in our time. To q Greek. II n thing
was beautiful. it was good, and II It was good. It
was beautiful; that was. at least, the prevail
ing attitude OF the Hellenic mind. Our author.
therefore. begins with ~Baumgarten Q714-1762l.
according to whom the object Of logical knowl-
edge is truth. the object Of aesthetics. that ls.
eensuous knowledge. is beauty. Beauty is tho
perfect recognized through the senses. 1t la
also defined by BaumGarten as q corro-
spondence. that is. an order Of the parts in their
mutual relations to each other and In their re-
lation to the whole. The aim Of beauty itself.
no said. is to please and excite q de-
sire. some succeeding German writer's
contradlcted Baumgarten's main position.
and recognized rs the aim OF art not
beauty but goodness. Mendelssohn. for OK
ample. maintained that the aim of art is
moral perfection. On the other hand, the es-
thetio doctrine Of Winckelmann divided the
mission OF art from the aim Of goodness in the
sharpest and most positive manner. making
external beauty the aim Of art, and even limit
ing 1t to visible beauty. There are. he said,
INV AihNO va cNatSyN oi AFSSSI ALAAbl " NIo
eye: First. beauty of form secondly. beauty OF
idea. exhibiting itself in the position OF the fg-
ure-that Is to Sny. in plastic art-and. thirdly.
beauty OF expression. attainable only when the
first two conditions are present. Thia beauty
OF expression he pronounced the highest aim
Of art. and as 1t was attained in antique art,
modern art should aim at initiating the
ancient. Art was similarly understood by
Leasing. Herder. Goethe. and all the dis
kin~,,;elnl observation-disclosures, " Gaa. AL
Kant, from whose day a different con-
ception of art acquired currency. Beauty.
according to Kant. in its subjective meaning. Is
that which. in general and necessarily. without
reasoning and without practical advantage,
pleases. In its objective meaning, 1t Is the
form OF an object suitable to please in so far as
that object is perceived without any conception
OF its utility. According to Schiller, who was
one of Rants followers. the aim Of art is
beauty. the source OF which is pleasure without
practical advantage. According to Fichte,
beauty exists not in the external world, but in
the beautiful soul. Art is the manifestation Of
this beautiful soul. and its aim is the education
not only Of the mind. which is the business Of
the savant nor only OF the heart, which Is the
affair OF the homilist, but OF the whole man.
6chelling held that beauty is the conception
OF tho infinite In the finite, and that the
chief characteristic Of works of art is
unconscious inflnity. When we contem-
plate beauty. we contemplate things in them
selves as they exist in the prototype. After
SchellinG and his followers came the new es-
thetic doctrine Of Hegel. which is accepted to
this day. consciously or unconsciously. by
many. According TO Hegel. God manifests
Himself In nature and In art in the form Of
beauty. He expresses himself In two ways: In
the object and in theIsubiect. in nature and in
spirit. Beauty isthe shining Of the Idea through
matter. The beauty OF nature Is only the re-
Election Of the innate beauty OF the spirit, but
the spiritual entity must appear in sensuous
forms. Art is the production OF this sensuous
appearance OF the Idea. and Isl means. together
with religion ana philosophy. OF bringing to
consciousness and OF expressing the deepest
problems Of humanity and the highest truths
OF the spirit. simultaneously with tho Hege-
Ian theory. there were circulated in Ger
many definitions Of beauty that were d.
rectly opposed to them. According to Her.
bart, for instance. there is not and cannot
be any such thing as beauty existing in
itself. What does exist is only our opinion, and
1t is necessary to find the bases of this opinion.
Such bases are connected with our Impressions.
There are certain relations which we term
beautiful; and art consists in finding these re-
~lAtions. which are simultaneous In painting,
the plastic art and architecture: successive and
simultaneous In music; purely successive in
poetry. In contradiction to the former estheti-
clans. Herbart held that objects are often beau
uful which express nothing ct all, as, for in
stance. the rainbow. which Is beautiful for it's
lines and colors. and not for its NEUROLOGICAL
connection with Iris or with the promise given
to Noah.
or the definitions quoted from French writ
ers. three are especially noteworthy. Accord
ing to Tame. beauty is the manifestation of the
essential characteristic OF any important idea
more completely than 1t is expressed In reality.
According to Cherbuliez. art IA an activity
satisfying our innate love OF forms. endowinR
these forms with Ideas and afrording pleasure
alike to our senses. heart. and reason. Beauty
he contended. is not inherent in objects. but 10
attributed to them by our souls. Beauty Is a
delusion there is no absolute beauty, but what
we consider characteristic and harmonious ap-
pears beautiful to us. According to Veron, art
Is the manifestation OF emotion transmitted
externally by a combination of lines, forms.
colors, or by a succession OF movements,
sounds. or words subjected to certain
rhythms. In England during the present
century the best known writer's on Rsthet-
ics have been Charles Darwin. Her.
: bert Spencer and Grant Allen. According to
Darwin. the feeling for beauty is natural not
only to man but also to animals. and. oonse-
Quently. to the ancestors OF man. Birds adorn
tlolT ucbta, anu cSletlh DcduJy III tnelf mates,
Beauty has an influence on mating. Darwin
recognizes a variety OF diverse conceptions OF
beauty. He points out that the origin OF the
art OF music is the call OF the male to the fe-
male. According to Herbert Spencerthe origin
Of ar. is play, In man. unlike most OF the anil
maiE, there remains some superiuous energy
after the ordinary needs Of life are satisfied.
This surplus is used in play. which passes over
into art. Play is an imitation OF real activity (;
30 is art. The sources Of aesthetic pleasure
are three-fold: first, that which exercises
the faculties affected In the most complete
ways. with the fewest drawbacks from excess of
exercise; secondly. the application OF a slim
ulus In large amount. which awakens q glow
DfaRreeable feeling; lastly. the partial revival
Of the same with special combinations. Grant
Allen. who Is afollower Of Spencer. holds that
beauty has q physical origin. Esthetic pleas
ures come. he says. from the contemplation Of