The Monist, Vol. 3, 1892-1893 : $b A quarterly magazineVarious
Philosophy
The Monist, Vol. 3, 1892-1893 : $b A quarterly magazine
Various
Philosophy -- Periodicals
As Fechner’s law rests on that of Weber, and on assumptions which appear
to be incorrect, it also fails, and it follows that the psycho-physical,
physiological, and psychological theories put forward to account for
the supposed logarithmic relation between mental and physical processes
are superfluous. From these conclusions we may judge of the importance
of the experiments made by Professors Fullerton and Cattell, whose work
requires to be carefully studied by all those interested in the special
questions to which it relates.
Ω.
PSYCHOLOGIE DU PEINTRE. By _Lucien Arréat_. Paris: Félix Alcan. 1892. Pp.
LIX, 264. Price, 5 fr.
The author of this interesting work informs us that it does not aim
at being a natural history of society, nor is it even a study in
professional psychology. This is hardly correct, however, as such a
study must be based on that of individuals, and a writer of M. Arréat’s
reputation cannot treat of a large group of individuals without throwing
light on the psychology of the whole class to which they belong. He
very aptly likens artists as a whole to a large family, the artist in
design to a genus of this family, and painters to a species. This has
its varieties, and it is by the study of these that the author seeks to
arrive at a knowledge of the psychology of the painter.
Believing that there exists a relation between the temperament and the
qualities of the mind and that this is influenced by heredity, he devotes
the first part of the work to questions of physiology and heredity. The
second part deals with the painter’s vocation, his æsthetic sentiments,
his professional memory, and, as the evolution of art is connected with
the progress of visual analysis, with his sense of sight. Then comes
an examination of the general mental qualities of the painter, his
intellectual character, his various phases of memory and aptitudes, and
the influences which affect his work. The fourth part of the book treats
of the painter’s character, his egoistic and sympathetic traits, his
will, and his moral and social traits. And finally reference is made
to questions of pathology, particularly defects of vision, and to “the
miseries of genius.”
On all these subjects M. Arréat has many acute remarks supported by
numerous facts, often derived from painters themselves, who thus, says
the author, will be found “living and speaking on each page, just as
they are, and making themselves known by their works, sympathetic or
disagreeable, indifferent or superior, but always interesting.” It is
noticeable, in connection with the important subject of heredity, that
in a list of about three hundred painters almost two-thirds are sons of
painters or of workers in art, and M. Arréat thinks that if more complete
information were obtainable the proportion would be increased.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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