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  THE 
  FACT 
  OF 
  BEAUTY 
  

  

  to 
  Man 
  at 
  his 
  best 
  something 
  conveying 
  not 
  knowledge, 
  but 
  

   an 
  intuition 
  that 
  was 
  greater 
  than 
  knowledge. 
  How 
  can 
  

   this 
  be 
  if 
  the 
  aesthetic 
  emotions 
  are 
  but 
  the 
  refined 
  outcome 
  

   of 
  primeval 
  distributions 
  of 
  matter 
  and 
  energy? 
  We 
  have 
  

   tried 
  in 
  our 
  consideration 
  of 
  the 
  organism 
  to 
  take 
  the 
  edge 
  

   off 
  such 
  arguments. 
  There 
  are 
  few 
  active 
  evolutionists 
  of 
  

   the 
  present 
  day 
  who 
  are 
  committed 
  to 
  such 
  materialism. 
  

   From 
  the 
  physical 
  abstractions 
  ( 
  matter 
  ' 
  and 
  ' 
  energy 
  ' 
  it 
  is 
  

   impossible 
  to 
  account 
  for 
  emotion, 
  yet 
  emotion 
  may 
  have 
  

   evolved 
  in 
  psycho-physical 
  beings 
  such 
  as 
  it 
  seems 
  quite 
  

   legitimate 
  to 
  postulate 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  organisms. 
  

  

  ^Esthetic 
  emotion 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  subtle 
  feeling, 
  and 
  is 
  possibly 
  

   peculiar 
  to 
  mankind, 
  yet 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  inconceivable 
  that 
  its 
  raw 
  

   materials 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  level 
  perhaps 
  of 
  a 
  pleased 
  awareness 
  

   of 
  specific 
  arrangements 
  of 
  certain 
  lines 
  and 
  colours 
  as 
  dis- 
  

   tinguished 
  from 
  others 
  may 
  be 
  detected 
  far 
  below 
  the 
  

   human 
  plane 
  of 
  being. 
  Bower-birds 
  are 
  not, 
  of 
  course, 
  

   among 
  man's 
  ancestors, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  interesting 
  to 
  know 
  how 
  

   the 
  males 
  decorate 
  their 
  sometimes 
  elaborate 
  courting 
  bowers 
  

   with 
  brightly 
  coloured 
  pods 
  and 
  flowers 
  and 
  shells. 
  We 
  must 
  

   remember 
  that 
  low 
  down 
  in 
  the 
  kingdom 
  of 
  the 
  unicellulars, 
  

   as 
  we 
  have 
  seen, 
  animals 
  select 
  material 
  to 
  work 
  with 
  and 
  

   handle 
  it 
  without 
  hands 
  dexterously, 
  and 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  

   far-fetched 
  to 
  suppose 
  that 
  the 
  creature 
  has 
  a 
  dim 
  pleasure 
  

   in 
  its 
  work. 
  We 
  find 
  similar 
  artificers 
  at 
  various 
  levels 
  in 
  

   the 
  animal 
  hierarchy, 
  and 
  the 
  thrill 
  accompanying 
  success- 
  

   ful 
  formative 
  endeavour 
  will 
  probably 
  strengthen 
  and 
  deepen 
  

   with 
  the 
  degree 
  of 
  general 
  differentiation 
  and 
  integration. 
  

   From 
  enjoyment 
  of 
  one's 
  own 
  achievement 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  

   pass 
  to 
  an 
  appreciation 
  of 
  that 
  of 
  others, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  fact 
  

   that 
  some 
  birds 
  will 
  appropriate 
  characteristic 
  phrases 
  of 
  

   song 
  from 
  others 
  we 
  have 
  a 
  hint 
  of 
  admiration. 
  It 
  is 
  too 
  

  

  