Art principles in literatureDonnelly, Francis P. (Francis Patrick)
Philosophy
Art principles in literature
Donnelly, Francis P. (Francis Patrick)
Aesthetics; Literature
The simple apprehension is concerned with what is termed ontological
truth, whereas reasoning and judging result in logical truth. Now, just
as esthetic enjoyment abstracts from possession or good, so does it
abstract from the affirmations belonging to the logical truth of judgment
and of rational inference. There is esthetic enjoyment of fiction as
well as of fact. Aristotle long ago saw that although the substance of
art must be the persons, actions and feelings of man, the pleasure found
in the work of art does not arise from its correspondence with reality.
The correspondence with reality gives the satisfaction of logical truth,
of scientific truth, of historical fact. The truth which is the object
of esthetic pleasure in art is the truth of consistency, of realization
of ideal, the truth of reasonable congruity, of plot in a wide sense of
the term. This vision, this dream of the artist, scholastic philosophers
call _causa exemplaris_ or ideal. If we are right in our understanding
of Croce, his intuition is nothing else but the simple apprehension of
the ideal. Esthetic enjoyment comes also, as is clear, from the simple
apprehension of beauty in natural realities where there is no fiction of
art.
To localize the esthetic enjoyment in this way does not determine the
constituent elements of beauty, but clear definitions help to exclude
many false notions of beauty. The ideal of the artist is embodied in his
imagination before it is expressed in its proper medium. The art of man
always must have a medium which can be perceived by the senses. That is
why a vigorous imagination, which stores up and dispenses to its owner
quickly and abundantly of its riches, is so useful to the artist. Through
his imagination the artist is original and personal. The pure thought of
science is abstract and alike in all minds; the artistic vision formed
from individual experience will be different in every one. Therefore no
two artists expressing themselves in the concrete can be alike as no two
scenes of nature are alike in beauty.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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