Thus I conclude these brief remarks upon the author of the _Aesthetic_, confident that those who give time and attention to its study will be grateful for having placed in their hands this pearl of great price from the diadem of the antique Parthenope. DOUGLAS AINSLIE. THE ATHENAEUM, PALL MALL, _May_ 1909. [1] Napoli, Riccardo Ricciardi, 1909. [2] The reader will find this critique summarized in the historical portion of this volume. [3] _La Critica_ is published every other month by Laterza of Bari. [4] This translation is made from the third Italian edition (Bari, 1909), enlarged and corrected by the author. The _Theory of Aesthetic_ first appeared in 1900 in the form of a communication to the _Accademia Pontiana_ of Naples, vol. xxx. The first edition is dated 1902, the second 1904 (Palermo). I INTUITION AND EXPRESSION [Sidenote] _Intuitive knowledge._ Human knowledge has two forms: it is either intuitive knowledge or logical knowledge; knowledge obtained through the imagination or knowledge obtained through the intellect; knowledge of the individual or knowledge of the universal; of individual things or of the relations between them: it is, in fact, productive either of images or of concepts. In ordinary life, constant appeal is made to intuitive knowledge. It is said to be impossible to give expression to certain truths; that they are not demonstrable by syllogisms; that they must be learnt intuitively. The politician finds fault with the abstract reasoner, who is without a lively knowledge of actual conditions; the pedagogue insists upon the necessity of developing the intuitive faculty in the pupil before everything else; the critic in judging a work of art makes it a point of honour to set aside theory and abstractions, and to judge it by direct intuition; the practical man professes to live rather by intuition than by reason. But this ample acknowledgment, granted to intuitive knowledge in ordinary life, does not meet with an equal and adequate acknowledgment in the field of theory and of philosophy. There exists a very ancient science of intellective knowledge, admitted by all without discussion, namely, Logic; but a science of intuitive knowledge is timidly and with difficulty admitted by but a few. Logical knowledge has appropriated the lion's share; and if she does not quite slay and devour her companion, yet yields to her with difficulty the humble little place of maidservant or doorkeeper. What, it says, is intuitive knowledge without the light of intellective knowledge? It is a servant without a master; and though a master find a servant useful, the master is a necessity to the servant, since he enables him to gain his livelihood. Intuition is blind; Intellect lends her eyes. [Sidenote] _Its independence in respect to intellective knowledge._