Page:Philosophical Review Volume 14.djvu/29

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For, while the science of psychology must guide, it can never dominate the thought of the philosopher who strives to gain a broad view of the world of experience; and, as will appear below, the æsthetician calls upon the philosopher for aid which the psychologist as such cannot give.

In approaching this subject we may take at the start what we may call the broadly philosophical view, and may consider the question raised immediately above, where we ask what may be the function in life of the art instinct, and what the significance of the æsthetic production to which its expression leads.

We, in our day, are still strongly influenced by the awakening of interest in the problems of organic development with which Darwin's name is identified, and thus naturally look upon this problem from a genetic point of view; from which, to my mind, artistic expression appears, as I have elsewhere argued at length, as one of Nature's means to enforce social consolidation. But it is possible that we are led, by the present-day interest above spoken of, to over-emphasize the importance of the processes of the unfolding of our capacities; and it is not improbable that those who follow us, less blinded by the brilliancy of the achievement of the evolutionists, may be able to look deeper than we can into the essence of the teleological problem thus raised. That art is worthy for art's sake is the conviction of a large body of artists who labor in their chosen work, often with a truly martyr-like self-abnegation; and, as an artist, I find myself heartily in sympathy with this attitude. But Æsthetics looks to Philosophy for some account of this artistic which shall harmonize the artist's effort with that of mankind in general, from whom the artist all too often feels himself cut off by an impassable gulf. The study of Æsthetics by the philosopher from the genetic standpoint has, however, already brought to our attention some facts which are both significant and helpful. It has shown us how slow and hesitant have been the steps in the development