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Aesthetics and Art Theory. "An Historical Introduction" by Harold OsborneReview by: Vic GrayLeonardo, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring, 1972), p. 175Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1572560 .

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development of aesthetic thought reaches a natural apogee in the Kantian codification. From here, aesthetic thought is followed till the final chapter on twentieth-century aesthetic hypothesis-a hypoth- esis, in brief, in which a work of art is said to exist in its own right with its own standards and functions. Art does not exist to be bible, propaganda, broad- sheet or social pamphlet and, when it is used for these functions, they are irrelevant to the qualities of a work of art. Sections on the emergence of concepts of genius, mimesis, inspiration and discussions on art activities, including the use of creative imagination, and their place in today's aesthetics and the critical language of appreciation are included to further illuminate the central theme: the emergence of man the aesthete.

In a society challenged by the headlong rush of technological progress and the immediate con- frontation with change, we need continuous clarification, if not reassurance, for change in the arts is no less swift and confusing. A sculpture of a mound of sand, slowly gyrating bodies to the strains of 'Underneath the Arches' in the living sculpture of George and Gilbert or the artistic experience of a 'happening' tax the resources in appreciation of all except the very few. The whirling waters of change or progress force us to grasp for hand-holds and tutelage. Osborne continues to reappraise the situation and is prominent in the scholarship of aesthetics and in publishing the growing literature on the subject. I am grateful for his contributions.

It is a pity that some part of the money spent by libraries on the decor-enhancing coffee-table 'glos- sies' is not diverted to buying modestly priced handbooks of this calibre, for their gifts are more rewarding and longer lasting than the visual titilla- tion of the idle moment obtained from the 'glossies'.

Poetries and Sciences. I. A. Richards. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1970. 121 pp., ?1.40. Reviewed by: John Elderfield*

The author's self-critical faculties are never more in evidence than in this, his third, try at the theme of how poetry and science are each conceived, and how thinking differs in each. His Science and Poetry was published in 1926 as what he calls a 'side-shoot' from perhaps his best-known work, Principles of Literary Criticism. A revised edition appeared in 1935 and this new version reprints the 1935 text with commentaries, two short essays ('Reorientation' and 'How does a poem know when it is finished?') and an exposition of specialized quotation marks (developed from his How to Read a Page of 1942). The book is now called Poetries and Sciences to 'redirect attention ... to the genres and ... to the differences and dimensions between mathematical, statistical and empirical treatments ... (and to) discourage quests for premature

development of aesthetic thought reaches a natural apogee in the Kantian codification. From here, aesthetic thought is followed till the final chapter on twentieth-century aesthetic hypothesis-a hypoth- esis, in brief, in which a work of art is said to exist in its own right with its own standards and functions. Art does not exist to be bible, propaganda, broad- sheet or social pamphlet and, when it is used for these functions, they are irrelevant to the qualities of a work of art. Sections on the emergence of concepts of genius, mimesis, inspiration and discussions on art activities, including the use of creative imagination, and their place in today's aesthetics and the critical language of appreciation are included to further illuminate the central theme: the emergence of man the aesthete.

In a society challenged by the headlong rush of technological progress and the immediate con- frontation with change, we need continuous clarification, if not reassurance, for change in the arts is no less swift and confusing. A sculpture of a mound of sand, slowly gyrating bodies to the strains of 'Underneath the Arches' in the living sculpture of George and Gilbert or the artistic experience of a 'happening' tax the resources in appreciation of all except the very few. The whirling waters of change or progress force us to grasp for hand-holds and tutelage. Osborne continues to reappraise the situation and is prominent in the scholarship of aesthetics and in publishing the growing literature on the subject. I am grateful for his contributions.

It is a pity that some part of the money spent by libraries on the decor-enhancing coffee-table 'glos- sies' is not diverted to buying modestly priced handbooks of this calibre, for their gifts are more rewarding and longer lasting than the visual titilla- tion of the idle moment obtained from the 'glossies'.

Poetries and Sciences. I. A. Richards. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1970. 121 pp., ?1.40. Reviewed by: John Elderfield*

The author's self-critical faculties are never more in evidence than in this, his third, try at the theme of how poetry and science are each conceived, and how thinking differs in each. His Science and Poetry was published in 1926 as what he calls a 'side-shoot' from perhaps his best-known work, Principles of Literary Criticism. A revised edition appeared in 1935 and this new version reprints the 1935 text with commentaries, two short essays ('Reorientation' and 'How does a poem know when it is finished?') and an exposition of specialized quotation marks (developed from his How to Read a Page of 1942). The book is now called Poetries and Sciences to 'redirect attention ... to the genres and ... to the differences and dimensions between mathematical, statistical and empirical treatments ... (and to) discourage quests for premature

Aesthetics and Art Theory. An Historical Introduc- tion. Harold Osborne. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1968. 217 pp., illus. ?2.20. Reviewed by: Vic Gray* 'The Middle Ages had no more idea of what we mean by the word art than had Greece or Egypt, which lacked the word to express it. In order that this idea could be born, it was necessary for words of art to be separated from their func- tion ... The most profound metamorphosis began when art had no other end than itself.'

Andre Malraux in Les Voi du Silence.

An editorial adjuration to please submit this long delayed review because of the date of the book's publication stimulated me to reflect on the super- annuation of the written word. The novel, except one of the first rank or one revived by the whim of fashion, dates both in style and content; the ageing socio-political play, except one by an Ibsen or a Shaw, fades into pointlessness and the textbook matures into dullness outmoded in its form of expression and overtaken by research. But the handbook with no pretensions to longevity, offers its back for a climb to wider and deeper reading in a sort of self immolation.

In this handbook, Osborne has used a chrono- logical format to illustrate the development of aesthetic understanding and the shape of hypotheses in this field today. What is Art ? What is a work of art ? In the labyrinth of ideas and thoughts conse- quent on those questions, the author is a most attentive guide. He leads us to exits of under- standing and enrichment. He writes, in common with those who are masters of their chosen field, with the clarity and discernment of the true illuminator.

Light is thrown on the evolution of man's assumptions concerning the fine arts and their purposes in society. He examines (with us) the developing concepts and ideas of art from classical times to those prevalent today. It would be under- standable if Osborne treated aesthetics as something peculiar to Western thought but he provides us with a fair and considered appraisal of Chinese and Indian aesthetic hypotheses to give another di- mension to understanding through contrast and contact. The complexities of Chinese art criticism are unravelled sufficiently to show that criticism is not based on nature, as it tends to be in the Occident. Art to the Chinese reflects a perfect reality or Tao and is not concerned with depicting things as they are; a parallel with some art hypotheses in the West in the twentieth century. The difficult concept of Rasa, central to Indian aesthetic hypothesis, where- in the emotions are embodied in the work of art and we taste or savour these to the extent of our empa- thy, is so elucidated to make possible a comparison with Susanne Langer's getsalt of emotional situations described in her book, Philosophy in a New Key, 3rd Ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1957); paperback (New York: New American Library World Pub.).

Aesthetics and Art Theory. An Historical Introduc- tion. Harold Osborne. Longmans, Green & Co., London, 1968. 217 pp., illus. ?2.20. Reviewed by: Vic Gray* 'The Middle Ages had no more idea of what we mean by the word art than had Greece or Egypt, which lacked the word to express it. In order that this idea could be born, it was necessary for words of art to be separated from their func- tion ... The most profound metamorphosis began when art had no other end than itself.'

Andre Malraux in Les Voi du Silence.

An editorial adjuration to please submit this long delayed review because of the date of the book's publication stimulated me to reflect on the super- annuation of the written word. The novel, except one of the first rank or one revived by the whim of fashion, dates both in style and content; the ageing socio-political play, except one by an Ibsen or a Shaw, fades into pointlessness and the textbook matures into dullness outmoded in its form of expression and overtaken by research. But the handbook with no pretensions to longevity, offers its back for a climb to wider and deeper reading in a sort of self immolation.

In this handbook, Osborne has used a chrono- logical format to illustrate the development of aesthetic understanding and the shape of hypotheses in this field today. What is Art ? What is a work of art ? In the labyrinth of ideas and thoughts conse- quent on those questions, the author is a most attentive guide. He leads us to exits of under- standing and enrichment. He writes, in common with those who are masters of their chosen field, with the clarity and discernment of the true illuminator.

Light is thrown on the evolution of man's assumptions concerning the fine arts and their purposes in society. He examines (with us) the developing concepts and ideas of art from classical times to those prevalent today. It would be under- standable if Osborne treated aesthetics as something peculiar to Western thought but he provides us with a fair and considered appraisal of Chinese and Indian aesthetic hypotheses to give another di- mension to understanding through contrast and contact. The complexities of Chinese art criticism are unravelled sufficiently to show that criticism is not based on nature, as it tends to be in the Occident. Art to the Chinese reflects a perfect reality or Tao and is not concerned with depicting things as they are; a parallel with some art hypotheses in the West in the twentieth century. The difficult concept of Rasa, central to Indian aesthetic hypothesis, where- in the emotions are embodied in the work of art and we taste or savour these to the extent of our empa- thy, is so elucidated to make possible a comparison with Susanne Langer's getsalt of emotional situations described in her book, Philosophy in a New Key, 3rd Ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1957); paperback (New York: New American Library World Pub.).

His penetrating discussion of Kant's Critique of Judgment is the pivot of his book and Osborne's

* 137 Westbury Road, Westbury on Trym, Bristol, England.

His penetrating discussion of Kant's Critique of Judgment is the pivot of his book and Osborne's

* 137 Westbury Road, Westbury on Trym, Bristol, England.

ultimates and for equally premature solutions'. It is always unsatisfactory to present a synopsis of a

* 15 Sparkford Close, Winchester, Hants., England.

ultimates and for equally premature solutions'. It is always unsatisfactory to present a synopsis of a

* 15 Sparkford Close, Winchester, Hants., England.

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