Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen. The esthetic emotions. By the esthetic emotions is
meant those emotional feelings which are concerned with the perception
of beauty or taste, and by reason of which we
like or dislike certain perceptions of century impressions. In order
to get a better idea, let us consider what is
meant by beauty and taste. Beauty is defined as that
quality or assemblage of qualities in an object which gives
the eye or the ear intense pleasure, or that characteristic
in an object which gratifies the intellectual or moral feeling. Taste,
in this sense of the term is defined as nice perception,
or the power of perceiving and relishing excellence in human performances,
the power of appreciating the finer qualities of art, the
faculty of discerning beauty, order, congruity, proportion, symmetry, or whatever
constitutes exit xcelence, particularly in the fine arts or literature.
The faculty of the mind by which we both perceive
and enjoy whatever is beautiful or sublime in the works
of nature and art. The possession of taste ensures grace
and beauty in the works of an artist, and the
avoidance of all that is low or mean. It is
as often the result of an innate sense of beauty
or propriety as of art education, and no genius can
compensate for the want of it. Tastes differ so much
among individuals, nations, or in different ages and conditions of civilization,
that it is utterly impossible to set up a standard
of taste applicable to all men and to all stages
in the evolution of society. The esthetic sense, feeling, and
emotion are products of the latest stages of the evolution
of the mind of man. Their roots, however, may be
seen in the crude attempts at decoration and adornment in
the scene Savage, and still further back in the tendency
of certain birds to adorn their nests or bowers. Moreover,
some sense of beauty must exist in the lower animals,
which are influenced thereby in the selection of their mates,
the bright plumage of the birds and the coloring of
the insects and higher animals, evidencing the existence of at
least a primitive esthetic sense. Herbert Spencer says that one
characteristic of the esthetic feelings is that they are separated
from the functions vitally requisite and necessary to sustain life,
and it is not until the latter are reasonably well
satisfied that the former begin to manifest in force. The
authorities hold that the basic element concerned in the manifestation
of the esthetic emotional feeling is the sensory element, which
consists of the pleasure arising from the perception of objects
of vision or hearing which are deemed beautiful. There is
a certain nervous satisfaction which arises from a perception of
the sensation of the sight of a beautiful thing or
the hearing of beautiful sound. Just why certain sights prove
agreeable and others disagreeable, or certain sounds pleasant and others unpleasant,
is very difficult to determine association and Habit may have
something to do with the beauty of sight object, and
it may be natural harmony of vibration in colours, as
there is in sound. In the case of sounds, there
is undoubtedly a natural harmony between the vibrations of certain
notes of the scale, and in harmony between others. Some
have held that the secret of the enjoyment of music
is found in the natural appreciation of rhythm, as rhythm
is a cosmic manifestation evident in everything from great to small.
But these theories do not account for differences existing in
the tastes regarding colour and music, manifested by different individuals, races,
and classes of people. Grant Allen says, the vulgrare pleased
with great masses of color, especially red, orange, and purple,
which give their coarse nervous organization the requisite stimulus. The refined,
with nerves of less caliber but greater discriminativeness, require delicate
combinations of complimentaries and prefer neutral tints to the glare
of the primary hues. Children and savages love to dress
in all the colors of the rainbow. In the same way,
persons of certain types of taste are pleased with rag
time and cheap, rollicking songs or dances, while others shudder
at these and find the light in the classic productions
of the great composers. There is also the intellectual element
to be reckoned with in the esthetic emotions. The intellect
must discover the beauty in certain objects before the emotion
is aroused by the perception. Halick says, every time the
undiscerns unity amid variety, order, rhythm, proportion, or symmetry and
esthetic emotion arises. The traveler with a trained intellect will
see far more beauty than an ignorant one. In looking
at a cathedral, a large part of the esthetic enjoyment
comes from tracing out the symmetry, from comparing part with part.
Not until this process is complete will the full beauty
of the structure as a whole be perceived. If the
traveler knows something of the medieval architecture before starting on
his European trip, he will see far more beauty. The
opposite of the esthetic, which we call the ugly, is
the unsymmetrical, the disorderly, that in which we can discover
no rhythm, plan or beauty. The element of associative suggestion
also enters into the manifestation of esthetic emotional feeling. The
mind accepts the suggestion of the beauty of certain styles
of art, or the excellence of certain classes of music.
There are fashions in art and music, as in clothes,
and what is thought beautiful to day may be deemed
hideous tomorrow. This is not entirely due to the evolution
of taste, for in many cases the old fashions are
revived and again deemed beautiful. There is, moreover, the effect
of the association of the object of emotion with certain
events or persons. This association renders a thing popular and
therefore agreeable and beautiful for the time being. The suggestion
in a story will often cause the beauty of a
certain scene or the harmony of a certain piece of
music to dawn upon thousands of persons. Some noted person
sets the seal of approval upon a certain picture or
musical composition, and lo the multitude calls it beautiful. It
must not be supposed, however, that the crowd always counterfeits
this sense of beauty and excellence which has been suggested
to it. On the contrary, genuine aesthetic feeling often results
from the discovery so made. There is style and fashion
in the use of words, resulting from fashion, which gives
rise to esthetic feelings regarding them. These feelings do not
arise from a consideration of the nature of the object
expressed by the word. Of two words designating the same thing,
one causes disgust and the other at least passive tolerance.
For instance, in speaking of the sensible moisture which is
emitted from the pores of the skin, we may use
either of the respective terms sweat or perspiration both mean
the same thing and have an equally respectable origin. But
to many persons the word sweat causes an unpleasant aesthetic emotion,
while a word perspiration is accepted without remonstrance. Some persons
abhore the term vitils, while vans or food are accepted
without protest. There is often an unpleasant, low vulgar association
connected with some words, which accounts for the disfavor with
which they are received, and which association is absent from
the more polite terms employed to indicate the same thing.
But in other cases there is nothing but the simple
suggestion of fashion and style to account for the esthetic
acceptance or rejection. It is possible that some psychologists of
the future will establish the truth of the theory now
tentatively advanced by a few investigators, namely that taste and
the sense of beauty depend almost entirely upon the element
of suggestion manifested as association, influence of authority, habit, fashion, imitation, etc.
It is known that the emotional nature is peculiarly liable
to suggestion, and that tastes may be created or destroyed
by repeated it suggestion. Under the most favorable circumstances. It
is thought likely that if we could trace back to
its roots every emotion of taste, we would find it
arising from some associative, suggestive influence connected with another and
more elemental class of emotions. Regarding the fact that there
is no universal standard of taste or beauty, Halek says,
it has been said that esthetics cannot be created in
a scientific way because there is no standard of taste.
De gustibus non es dysputandum there is no disputing about
tastes is an old proverb of two equally intelligent persons.
One may like a certain book, the other dislike it.
While it is true that the standard of taste is
a varying one within certain limits, it is no more
so than that of morals. As men's nervous systems, education,
and associations differ, we may scientifically conclude wo that their
tastes must differ. The greater the uniformity in the factors,
the less does the product vary. On the other hand,
within certain limits, the standard of esthetics is relatively uniform.
It is fixed by the majority of intelligent people of
any age and country. To estimate the standard by which
to judge of the correctness of a language, or of
the literary taste of any era, we examine the conversations
of the best speakers the works of the standard writers.
The esthetic emotions may be developed and cultivated by exercise
and practice, and particularly by association and familiarity with beautiful
things and with those who have good taste. Appreciation of
beauty is more or less contagious up to a certain
point of development, at least, and if one wishes to recognize, understand,
and appreciate beauty, he should go where beauty is and
where its votaries are gathered. The study of standard works
of art or object of nature, or the best productions
of the composers of music, will do much to develop
and unfold one's high esthetic feelings and understanding. It is
claimed by some of the best authorities that to develop
the finer and higher aesthetic feelings and understanding, we must
learn to find beauty and excellence in things removed from
ourselves or our selfish interests. The narrow, selfish emotions kill
the esthetic feelings. The two cannot exist together. The persons
whose thoughts are centered on himself or herself very rarely
finds beauty or excellence in works of art or music.
Grant Allen Well sums up the subject in the following words.
Good taste is a progressive product of progressing fineness and
discrimination in the nerves, educated attention, high and noble emotional constitution,
and increasing intellectual faculties. One of Chapter sixteen, Chapter seventeen,
the intellectual emotions, by the intellectual emotions is meant that
class of emotional feeling resulting from the presence of objects
of intellectual interest. This class of emotions depends for its
satisfaction upon the exercise of the intellectual faculties, from the
most simple to the most complex, and including perception, memory, imagination, reason, judgment,
and all the logical faculties. Those who are accustomed to
employing the mind through voluntary attention, particularly in the direction
of creative ideation or constructive imagination, experience these emotions to
a greater or less degree. The exercise of perception, if
we are skilled therein gives us a pleasurable feeling, and
if we succeed in making an interesting or important discovery
by reason thereof, we experience a strong degree of emotional satisfaction. Likewise,
we experience agreeable feelings when we are able to remember
distinctly something which might well have been forgotten, or when
we succeed in recalling something which had escaped our memory
for the moment. In the same way, the exercise of
the imagination is a source of great pleasure in many cases,
in the direction of writing, planning, inventing, or other creative processes,
or even in the building of air castles. The exercise
of the logical faculties gives great pleasure to those in
whom these faculties are well developed. Halleck Well says there
is probably not a happier moment in Newton's life than
when he has succeeded in demonstrating that the same power
which caused the apple to fall held the moon and
the planets in their orbits. When what discovered the steam
might be harnessed like the horse, when an inventor succeeds
in perfecting a labour lightening device, whenever an obscurity is
cleared away, the reason for a thing understood, and a
baffling instance brought under a general law. Intellectual emotion results
the pleasurable feelings we experience upon the reading of a
good book or the discovery of real poetry are forms
of intellectual emotion. The same class of emotional feeling is
aroused when we witness a good play. Among other instances
of this class, we mention a perception of clever work
of any kind, intricate machinery, ingenious devices, helpful improvements, or
other works of man which indicate the existence of thought
and inventive ability in the designer or builder. To appreciate
mental work of this kind, we must bring a mind
developed along the same or similar lines. It has well
been said that before one can take away anything from
a book, he must bring something to it. It takes
mentality to recognize and appreciate mentality or the work of
menas mentality. The study of scientific subjects is a source
of great pleasure to those who are inclined to such pursuits.
To the scientific mind, the study of the latest work
on a favorite branch gives a joy which nothing else
is capable of arousing. To the philosopher, the works of
other philosophers of the same skool give intense satisfaction. It
is claimed that the sense of humour and wit is
an intellectual emotion, for it depends upon the detection of
the ludicrous features of a happening. Certain psychologists have held
that the distinctive element of humour is a feeling attendant
upon the perception of incongruity, while that of wit is
the feeling of superiority on the part of the witty
person and a corresponding chagrin of the object of his wit.
It would seem, however, that the appreciation of wit must
depend upon the intellectual perception of cleverness of expression and
the pleasure resulting from the discovery thereof. That the feeling
of humour is aroused principally by reason of the incongruous element.
The feeling of self satisfaction, as contrasted with the discomfiture
of the other person, belongs to the more selfish emotions.
An authority says, humour is the mental faculty which tends
to discover incongruous resemblances between things which essentially differ, or
essential differences between things put forth as the same, the
result being internal mirth or an outburst of laughter. Wit
does so likewise, but the two are different. Humour has
deep human sympathy and loves men while raising a laugh
against their weaknesses. Wit is deficient in sympathy and there
is often a sting in its ridicule somewhat contemptuous of mankind.
It has not the patience to study them thoroughly, but
must content itself with noting superficial resemblances or differences. Humour
is patient and keenly observant, and penetrates beneath the surface.
While therefore the sallies of Wit are often one sided
and unfair, those of him are, as a rule just
and wise. The development and cultivation of the intellectual emotions depend,
of course upon education, training, exercise, and practice. The cultivation
of the intellect, which has been referred to in part
in the previous parts of this book, and which will
again be considered in the chapters devoted to the intellect,
results in the development and cultivation of the emotions accompanying
intellectual effort. In a general way, however, it may be
said that the reading of the best works of fiction, science,
and philosophy will bring out, in time the best form
of intellectual enjoyment and feeling. The highest gives the best.
That is the rule. The present chapter should be read
and studied in connection with those devoted to the intellect
blended emotions. As we have said, at the beginning of
our consideration of the subject of the emotions. The majority
of emotions are composed of several feelings intend to lend
and combine emotional elements. For instance, the emotion of sexual
love certainly has its origin in instinctive feelings of the race,
and its motive element is that of passion. But passion
is far from being all their ears in human sexual love.
Above the plane of passion is found the social emotion
of companionship, protection and care, the desire for the welfare
of the loved one, the mingling of the love of
the parent with that of the mate. Human love manifests
many of the altruistic emotions. During its course. The welfare
of the loved one becomes the chief concern of life,
often stronger even than self preservation. The joy of the
loved one becomes the greatest joy, far surpassing the more
selfish forms of happiness. Then come the esthetic feeling, which
find satisfaction in the two liking the same things. Sympathy
and community of feeling being the connecting link the several
ideals of the two combining there is produced an idealistic union,
which is often called spiritual harmony. Finally, there is found
the blending of the intellectual emotions, in which harmony there
exists one of the highest forms of pleasure, satisfaction between
two persons of opposite sexes. It is said that the
more things that a man and woman like in common,
the closer will be their liking for each other. I
love you because you love the things I love is
no rare thought and expression. So it is seen that,
though born in elemental instinct and passion, human sexual love
is something far different in its flowering, and yet without
its root it would not be and cannot be. This
is an excellent example of the complex nature of the
most common emotions. It may be used as a typical illustration.
What is true of it is also true in a
way and in a degree, of every other form of emotion. Therefore,
in studying a particular emotion, be not too quick to
cry it is this, it is that, but rather seek
to say it is composed of this and that. Few,
if any, emotions are simple. The majority are very complex.
Hence the difficulty of satisfactory classification and the danger of
dogmatic definition.