“Extraordinarily interesting. . . . He is erudite and he is intelligent; he makes the courageous attempt to be at the same time scientific and psychological; and he has the great advantage of having at his disposal a knowledge of semantics. His terms are clear, useful, and conveniently few.”—_The Nation_. “What he has done is to make thinking about art clearer, and about life, too. This is precisely the merit of Richards’ remarkable volume.”—_Christian Science Monitor_. “The book is compact with stimulating criticism of the great critics of the ages, and with numberless original suggestions on all phases of the creation and appreciation of art.”—_Springfield Republican_. “An important contribution to the rehabilitation of English criticism—perhaps, because of its sustained scientific nature, the most important yet made. . . . The principles enunciated are pursued in more particular aspects of literary criticism, always with a clear rest and consequent elucidation. Parallel applications to the arts of painting, sculpture, and music form the subjects of three chapters. Another important chapter deals with the availability of the poet’s experience.”—_The Criterion, London_. “Mr. Richards is an entertaining writer, whose work avoids easily the tedium of a technical treatise.”—_The British Journal of Psychology_. Transcriber’s Note: This eBook was created from a 1928 edition, scans of which are available from the Internet Archive. Tildes (~) indicate words that were set in Fraktur script in the original text. New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain. International Library of Psychology Philosophy and Scientific Method PRINCIPLES OF LITERARY CRITICISM BY I. A. RICHARDS FELLOW OF MAGDALENE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. LTD. PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY LUND HUMPHRIES LONDON · BRADFORD CONTENTS I. THE CHAOS OF CRITICAL THEORIES II. THE PHANTOM ÆSTHETIC STATE III. THE LANGUAGE OF CRITICISM IV. COMMUNICATION AND THE ARTIST V. THE CRITICS’ CONCERN WITH VALUE VI. VALUE AS AN ULTIMATE IDEA VII. A PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY OF VALUE VIII. ART AND MORALS IX. ACTUAL AND POSSIBLE MISAPPREHENSIONS X. POETRY FOR POETRY’S SAKE XI. A SKETCH FOR A PSYCHOLOGY XII. PLEASURE XIII. EMOTION AND THE CŒNESTHESIA XIV. MEMORY XV. ATTITUDES XVI. THE ANALYSIS OF A POEM XVII. RHYTHM AND METRE XVIII. ON LOOKING AT A PICTURE XIX. SCULPTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORM XX. THE _IMPASSE_ OF MUSICAL THEORY XXI. A THEORY OF COMMUNICATION XXII. THE AVAILABILITY OF THE POET’S EXPERIENCE XXIII. TOLSTOY’S INFECTION THEORY XXIV. THE NORMALITY OF THE ARTIST XXV. BADNESS IN POETRY XXVI. JUDGMENT AND DIVERGENT READINGS XXVII. LEVELS OF RESPONSE AND THE WIDTH OF APPEAL