OF THE BEAUTIFUL. 



109 



how, notably in Germany, the emotional side of life has, 

 with many persons, taken refuge, and found expression 

 and satisfaction, in the musical compositions of the great 

 masters of earlier and of recent times. 



A tendency, not unlike the one just mentioned, a 

 tendency to take art more seriously, is to be found in 

 the writings of one of the most original philosophical 

 thinkers during the last quarter of the century in France. 

 I refer to Jean Marie Guyau (1854 to 1888). 1 It may 

 be said that in him the conception of evolution has been 

 applied to a solution of the problem of the Beautiful. 

 The question had already been discussed by the philo- 

 sopher of evolution, by Herbert Spencer, as likewise by 

 some of his followers. But in the hands of Guyau the 

 evolutionary view acquires quite a different aspect. 

 Herbert Spencer had, as I have had occasion to mention 

 before, revived the play-theory of Schiller, without dis- 

 tinctly referring to Schiller. Now the play-theory of 

 Schiller had its origin at a time when Kant's ethical 

 rigorism had acquired a strong hold on German thought. 



1 The principal works of Guyau 

 in which his sesthetical ideas are 

 developed are : ' Les Problemes 

 de l'Esthe"tique Contemporaine ' 

 (1884) ; ' L'Art au point de vue 

 Sociologique ' (1889). Both these 

 works have run through several 

 editions. A very interesting 

 volume upon Guyau (' La Morale, 

 1'Art et la Religion '), giving much 

 prominence to his poetical, artistic, 

 and sesthetical mind and thought, 

 was published by Alfred Fouillee, 

 who was his guardian, teacher, and 

 subsequently his stepfather. It 

 contains a biographical notice of 

 Guyau's short life and profound 

 studies. Chapters iii. and iv. on 



eo. 





' Guyau's ^Esthetics ' are largely 

 interspersed with original poetry. 

 Guyau had during his lifetime 

 published a volume with the title 

 ' Vers d'un Philosophe ' (1881). 

 The most important, however, of 

 Guyau's philosophical attempts was 

 to find a basis for morality after, 

 as he considered, the traditional 

 foundations of ethics and religion 

 had been destroyed through the 

 doctrine of evolution. Together 

 with Fouille'e himself he may be 

 considered to be a leader in that 

 specifically French philosophical 

 tendency the idealisation of the 

 philosophy of evolution. 



