The Principles of AestheticsParker, De Witt H. (De Witt Henry)
Philosophy
The Principles of Aesthetics
Parker, De Witt H. (De Witt Henry)
Aesthetics
Once more I would compare the influence of art with that of religion.
The effect of religion upon conduct is partly due to the institutions
with which it is connected and the supernatural sanctions which it
attaches to the performance of duty; but partly also, and more
enduringly, to the stories of the gods. Now these stories, even when
believed, have an existence in the imagination precisely comparable
to that of works of art, and their influence upon sentiment is of
exactly the same order. They are most effective when beautiful, as the
legends of Christ and Buddha are beautiful; and they function by the
sympathetic transference of attitude from the story to the believer.
Even when no longer accepted as true their influence may persist, for
the values they embody lose none of their compulsion. And, although
as an interpretation of life based upon faith religion is doubtless
eternal, its specific forms are probably all fictitious; hence each
particular religion is destined to pass from the sphere of faith to
that of art. The Greek religion has long since gone there, and there
also a large part of our own will some day go--what is lost for faith
is retained for beauty.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
General Works
_English._
SANTAYANA, G. The Sense of Beauty, 1897; Reason in Art, 1906.
MUENSTERBERG, H. The Principles of Art Education, 1905; The
Eternal Values, Part 3, 1909.
LEE and THOMPSON. Beauty and Ugliness, 1911.
CARRITT, E. I. The Theory of Beauty, 1914.
KNIGHT, WM. The Philosophy of the Beautiful, Part 1, 1891;
Part 2, 1893.
PUFFER, ETHEL. The Psychology of Beauty, 1905.
BROWN, BALDWIN. The Fine Arts, 1892.
ROWLAND, E. The Significance of Art, 1913.
MARSHALL, R. Pain, Pleasure, and Aesthetics, 1894; Aesthetic
Principles, 1895.
SULLY, J., and ROBERTSON, G. C. Aesthetics.
BOSANQUET, B. History of Aesthetics, 1904; Three Lectures on
Aesthetics, 1914.
GORDON, KATE. Aesthetics, 1909.
_German._
LIPPS, T. Aesthetik, 1903-1905.
VOLKELT, J. System der Aesthetik, 1905-1914.
DESSOIR, M. Aesthetik und Allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft, 1906.
COHN, J. Allgemeine Aesthetik, 1901.
MEUMANN, E. Aesthetik der Gegenwart, 1912; System der
Aesthetik, 1914.
UTITZ, E. Grundlegung der Allgemeinen Kunstwissenschaft, Bd. 1,
1914.
MUELLER-FRIENFELS, R. Psychologic der Kunst, 1912.
WITASEK, S. Grundzuege der Allgemeinen Aesthetik, 1904.
GROOS, K. Der Aesthetische Genuss, 1902.
LANGE, K. Das Wesen der Kunst, 1901.
FIEDLER, C. Der Ursprung der Kuenstlerischen Thaetigkeit, 1901.
KANT, I. Kritik der Urteilskraft, 1790; English translation by
J. H. Bernard, 1892.
_French._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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