No preconceived idea of the
purity of beauty can undermine our intuition of the beauty of utility.
Yet the dependence of beauty upon utility in the industrial arts is
not at variance with the freedom from practical attitudes which we
have claimed for it. For the beauty is still in the realm of perception,
of contemplation, not of use. It is a pleasure in seeing how the purpose
is expressed in the form and material of the object, not a pleasure
in the possession of the object or an enjoyment of its benefits. I may
take pleasure in the vision of purpose well embodied in an object which
another man possesses, and my admiration will be as disinterested as
my appreciation of a statue. And even if I do make use of the object,
I may still get an aesthetic experience out of it, whenever I pause and
survey it, delighting in it as an adequate expression of its purpose
and my own joy in using it. Then beauty supervenes upon mere utility,
and a value for contemplation grows out of and, for the moment,
supplants a value in use. I now take delight in the perception of an
object when formerly I took delight only in its use; I now enjoy the
expression of purpose for its present perceived perfection, when once
I enjoyed it only for its ulterior results. Such intervals of restful
contemplation interrupt the activity of every thoughtful maker or user
of tools. Thus the practical life may enter into the aesthetic, and
that which grows out of exigence may develop into freedom.
Pages:
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321