Introduction to The Philosophy of Fine Arts — Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : The Introduction to Hegel's Philosophy of Fine Arts Author : Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Translator : Bernard Bosanquet Release date : July 20, 2014 [eBook #46330] Most recently updated: October 24, 2024 Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46330 Credits : Produced by Dianna Adair, Joe C, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) *** START OF 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. I have broken up the " Einleitung ," or Introduction proper, which is continuous in the original, into four chapters, [4] hoping that the arrangement of the discussion may be thus rendered easier to follow. The " Eintheilung ," which forms my Chapter V., is a separate chapter in the original. The table of contents is translated from the original, excepting those portions of it which are enclosed in square brackets, [ ]. My literary notes are entirely borrowed from the late Mrs. F. C. Conybeare's translation of Scherer's "History of German Literature;" a work invaluable to the English student, whose gratitude must for long be saddened by the untimely death of the translator. CONTENTS. PAGE Translator's Preface vii Prefatory Essay by the Translator xiii CHAPTER I . The Range of Æsthetic defined, and some Objections against the Philosophy of Art refuted (1-25). [α. Æsthetic confined to Beauty of Art 2 β. Does Art merit Scientific Treatment? 5 γ. Is Scientific Treatment appropriate to Art? 8 δ. Answer to β. 13 ε. Answer to γ.] 20 CHAPTER II . Methods of Science Applicable to Beauty and Art (26-42). [1. Empirical Method—Art-scholarship 27 ( a ) Its Range 27 ( b ) It generates Rules and Theories 28 ( c ) The Rights of Genius 38 2. Abstract Reflection 40 3. The Philosophical Conception of Artistic Beauty, general notion of] 41 CHAPTER III . The Philosophical Conception of Artistic Beauty, beginning with Current Ideas of Art (43-105). Part I. —The Work of Art as Made and as Sensuous 43-78 1. Work of Art as Product of Human Activity 48 [( a ) Conscious Production by Rule 48 ( b ) Artistic Inspiration 50 ( c ) Dignity of Production by Man 54 ( d ) Man's Need to produce Works of Art] 57 2. Work of Art as addressed to Man's Sense 60-78 [( a ) Object of Art—Pleasant Feeling? 60 ( b ) Feeling of Beauty—Taste 63 ( c ) Art-scholarship 65 ( d ) Profounder Consequences of Sensuous Nature of Art 66 (α) Relations of the Sensuous to the Mind 67 (αα) Desire 68 (ββ) Theory 70 (γγ) Sensuous as Symbol of Spiritual 72 (β) The Sensuous Element, how Present in the Artist 74 (γ) The Content of Art Sensuous] 78 Part II. —The End of Art. 3. [The Interest or End of Art (79-106) ( a ) Imitation of Nature? 79 (α) Mere Repetition of Nature is— 79 (αα) Superfluous 80 (ββ) Imperfect 80 (γγ) Amusing merely as Sleight of Hand 82 (β) What is Good to Imitate? 83 (γ) Some Arts cannot be called Imitative 85 ( b ) Humani nihii —? 87 ( c ) Mitigation of the Passions? 90 (α) How Art mitigates the Passions 91 (β) How Art purifies the Passions 94 (αα) It must have a Worthy Content 95 (ββ) But ought not to be Didactic 95 (γγ) Nor explicitly addressed to a Moral Purpose 98 ( d ) Art has its own Purpose as Revelation of Truth] 105 CHAPTER IV . Historical Deduction of the True Idea of Art in Mod