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  THE 
  FACT 
  OF 
  BEAUTY 
  

  

  ophy 
  of 
  the 
  As 
  If, 
  have 
  maintained 
  that 
  the 
  Beautiful 
  is 
  

   one 
  of 
  Man's 
  self-preservative 
  * 
  fictions 
  ' 
  -whistlings 
  to 
  keep 
  

   his 
  courage 
  up. 
  But 
  this 
  is 
  an 
  extreme 
  of 
  subjectivism. 
  No 
  

   doubt 
  the 
  aesthetic 
  emotion 
  implies 
  a 
  racially 
  and 
  individu- 
  

   ally 
  attuned 
  mind, 
  but 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  thrilled 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  pres- 
  

   ence 
  of 
  compositions 
  of 
  lines 
  and 
  combinations 
  of 
  colours 
  

   which 
  have 
  a 
  particular 
  quality. 
  There 
  are 
  other 
  compo- 
  

   sitions 
  and 
  combinations 
  usually 
  of 
  our 
  own 
  making 
  

   which 
  fail 
  to 
  please 
  us, 
  which 
  have 
  not 
  the 
  quality. 
  Except 
  

   in 
  reminiscence, 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  have 
  the 
  aesthetic 
  joy 
  unless 
  the 
  

   thing 
  of 
  beauty 
  is 
  there, 
  and 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  animate 
  objects 
  

   there 
  is 
  remarkable 
  congruence 
  of 
  emotion 
  on 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  observers, 
  after 
  certain 
  readily 
  intelligible 
  difficulties 
  

   have 
  been 
  overcome. 
  Moreover, 
  as 
  a 
  domesticated 
  animal 
  

   or 
  cultivated 
  plant 
  degenerates 
  under 
  artificial 
  conditions, 
  

   becoming 
  obese, 
  or 
  coarse, 
  or 
  scraggy, 
  as 
  the 
  case 
  may 
  be, 
  

   there 
  is 
  a 
  correlated 
  slackening 
  in 
  our 
  pleasure 
  in 
  it. 
  There 
  

   is 
  an 
  objective 
  basis 
  of 
  ugliness 
  correlated 
  with 
  our 
  subjective 
  

   repulsion. 
  

  

  And 
  again, 
  it 
  cannot 
  be 
  a 
  mental 
  fiction, 
  this 
  aesthetic 
  de- 
  

   light, 
  for 
  if 
  there 
  is 
  any 
  corner 
  of 
  experience 
  where 
  the 
  

   unity 
  of 
  body 
  and 
  mind 
  is 
  more 
  forcibly 
  illustrated 
  than 
  

   elsewhere, 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  the 
  aesthetic 
  emotion. 
  It 
  

   is 
  a 
  body-and-mind 
  reaction. 
  " 
  If 
  we 
  try/' 
  says 
  Professor 
  

   Bosanquet 
  (1915), 
  " 
  to 
  cut 
  out 
  the 
  bodily 
  side 
  of 
  our 
  world, 
  

   we 
  shall 
  find 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  reduced 
  the 
  mental 
  side 
  to 
  a 
  mere 
  

   nothing." 
  

  

  Speaking 
  of 
  " 
  the 
  aspects 
  of 
  beauty 
  and 
  sublimity 
  which 
  

   we 
  recognise 
  in 
  Nature, 
  and 
  the 
  finer 
  spirit 
  of 
  sense 
  revealed 
  

   by 
  the 
  insight 
  of 
  the 
  poet 
  and 
  the 
  artist 
  ", 
  Professor 
  Pringle- 
  

   Pattison 
  writes 
  : 
  " 
  These 
  things 
  also 
  are 
  not 
  subjective 
  imag- 
  

   inings 
  ; 
  they 
  give 
  us 
  a 
  deeper 
  truth 
  than 
  ordinary 
  vision, 
  

  

  