ÆSTHETIC _As science of expression and general linguistic_ BY BENEDETTO CROCE _translated, from the Italian by_ DOUGLAS AINSLIE THE NOONDAY PRESS _A division of_ FARRAR, STRAUS, AND COMPANY 1920 THE ÆSTHETIC IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR TO THE MEMORY OF HIS PARENTS PASQUALE AND LUISA SIPARI AND OF HIS SISTER MARIA CONTENTS EXTRACT FROM INTRODUCTION xix NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR xxv AUTHOR'S PREFACE xxvii I THEORY OF ÆSTHETIC I INTUITION AND EXPRESSION Intuitive knowledge--Its independence with respect to intellectual knowledge--Intuition and perception--Intuition and the concepts of space and time--Intuition and sensation--Intuition and association--Intuition and representation--Intuition and expression--Illusion as to their difference--Identity of intuition and expression II INTUITION AND ART Corollaries and explanations--Identity of art and intuitive knowledge--No specific difference--No difference of intensity--The difference is extensive and empirical--Artistic genius--Content and form in Æsthetic--Criticism of the imitation of nature and of the artistic illusion--Criticism of art conceived as a fact of feeling, not a theoretical fact--Æsthetic appearance, and feeling--Criticism of the theory of æsthetic senses--Unity and indivisibility of the work of art--Art as liberator III ART AND PHILOSOPHY Inseparability of intellectual from intuitive knowledge--Criticism of the negations of this thesis--Art and science--Content and form: another meaning--Prose and poetry--The relation of first and second degree--Non-existence of other forms of cognition--Historicity--Its identity with and difference from art--Historical criticism--Historical scepticism--Philosophy as perfect science. The so-called natural sciences, and their limits--The phenomenon and the noumenon IV HISTORICISM AND INTELLECTUALISM IN ÆSTHETIC Criticism of the probable and of naturalism--Criticism of ideas in art, of theses in art, and of the typical--Criticism of the symbol and of the allegory--Criticism of the theory of artistic and literary kinds--Errors derived from this theory in judgements on art--Empirical sense of the divisions of kinds V ANALOGOUS ERRORS IN THE THEORY OF HISTORY AND IN LOGIC Criticism of the philosophy of History--Æsthetic intrusions into Logic--Logic in its essence--Distinction between logical and non-logical judgements--Syllogistic--Logical falsehood and æsthetic truth--Reformed logic--Note to the fourth Italian edition VI THE THEORETIC ACTIVITY AND THE PRACTICAL ACTIVITY The will--The will as an ulterior stage in respect to knowledge--Objections and explanations--Criticism of practical judgements or judgements of value--Exclusion of the practical from the æsthetic--Criticism of the theory of the end of art and of the choice of content--Practical innocence of art--Independence of art--Criticism of the saying: the style is the man--Criticism of the concept of sincerity in art VII