WILLIAM McDOUGALL 157 



rendered the race of man Increasingly disposed to re- 

 spond positively to such things as smiling landscapes, 

 gentle voices, well-formed bodies and faces expressive 

 of health and vigour; I still cannot see how we can 

 "naturally" account for the profound and overwhelm- 

 ing effect of beauty upon many men, whether in the 

 form of landscapes, of the human face, of music, of 

 words, or of representative art. The most widely 

 accepted psychological theory Is that In all cases we 

 have to do with a sublimation of the energy of the 

 sex-impulse. There is no doubt some truth In this 

 theory; but it seems very inadequate In face of the 

 profound effects on some men of the beauty of nature, 

 the effect for example of a grand tropical sunset. And 

 even In respect of that form of beauty to which It Is 

 most obviously applicable, the beauty of the human 

 form and face, the theory seems wholly Inadequate. 

 It seems to be true that, the more beautiful the human 

 form, the more strongly does It evoke the sex-impulse 

 In the observer; and it might even be said that this 

 is the essential condition of his finding It beautiful. 

 So far the "natural" explanation seems valid. But 

 beautiful form goes far beyond the mere evocation of 

 the sex-Impulse. It evokes also very different tend- 

 encies which hold the sex-impulse In check, and. In so 

 doing, lead to Its sublimation. And this is not, as the 

 Freudian theory assumes, merely a consequence of 

 social discipline. It is rather a perfectly spontaneous 

 mode of response. Sublimation is, no doubt. Involved 

 In the process; and probably all esthetic appreciation 

 implies some such balanced opposition of mutually re- 

 straining tendencies. But what remains Inexplicable 

 by the theory Is the powerful evocation of these re- 



