THE INTRODUCTION TO HEGEL'S PHILOSOPHY OF FINE ART THE INTRODUCTION TO HEGEL'S PHILOSOPHY OF FINE ART TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN _WITH NOTES AND PREFATORY ESSAY_ BY BERNARD BOSANQUET, M.A. LATE FELLOW AND TUTOR OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD LONDON KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1886 (_The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved._) TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. Hegel's "_Æsthetik_," or "Philosophy of Fine Art," is a work which should no longer be inaccessible to the English reading public, but the reproduction of which, in its complete form of 1600 pages, is a task not to be lightly undertaken. I know of three partial reproductions of the "_Æsthetik_" in English, viz. Mr. Bryant's translation of Part II.,[1] Mr. Kedney's short analysis of the entire work,[2] and Mr. Hastie's translation of Michelet's short "Philosophy of Art,"[3] prefaced by Hegel's Introduction, partly translated and partly analysed. I wholly disapprove of analyses (among which may be reckoned Michelet's summary above mentioned) as representations of Hegel's writing, which is attractive chiefly by the force and freshness of its detail. I am convinced that Hegel should be allowed to speak for himself, and that failing the translation of the whole "_Æsthetik_," or of very copious selections, the best course is that which I have adopted in the present volume, viz. to translate the entire Introduction, including the chapter entitled, "Division of the Subject." This Introduction is in Hegel's best manner--so far as he can be said to have literary manner at all, especially in a work which has been produced by editors from lecture-notes,--and is tolerably complete in itself. It is not contained as a whole in any of the above-mentioned works. I ought to say, however, that Mr. Hastie's translation is excellent in style; but after the first thirty-four pages it also becomes an analysis. Nor is it wholly free from serious mistakes. I have hoped that the present volume may be of interest to many who, without being students of philosophy, are intelligent lovers of art. I have therefore done my best to _interpret_ philosophical expressions, instead of merely furnishing their technical equivalents. I have also added a few short notes, either to explain literary allusions, or to complete the interpretation of technical terms. The prefatory essay was written with a similar intention, not as original speculation, but as an assistance to general readers in apprehending the point of view from which Fine Art is regarded by Hegel and kindred writers.