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Dictionary of the History of Ideas

Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas
103 occurrences of allegory
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103 occurrences of allegory
[Clear Hits]

2. Immediate Perception.

The frequent occurrence
of the idea that beauty is perceived immediately can
be attributed probably to the common observation that
both the effect of and the response to natural beauty
are direct and are not based on the recognition of
prolonged application and preparation, or of achieve-
ment and action as is the case with virtues and abilities.
To some extent this observation holds true even for
the response to beauty in art. In aesthetic speculation
immediacy is, however, interpreted and justified in a
variety of ways.

According to empirical theory the eye and ear per-
ceive beauty as soon as the object or color, shape, and
sound are presented to them. The theory varies, how-
ever, as to whether beauty is placed into the object
itself or is considered to be the result of our sense
perception. There is further divergence in the expla-
nation of the process leading to the result. We find
the empirical conception occasionally even in meta-
physical theories of beauty; the perception is then
considered to apply to simple natural beauty (a faint
shadow of true beauty) and to be the first unreflected
step in our knowledge of beauty. The immediate per-
ception may be also an intuition ascribed to a special
sense or faculty, or to direct (not analytical or discur-
sive) knowledge.

The direct response to beauty is accounted for also
in terms of inner causation, as in the rousing of subcon-
scious, latent, deep-seated forces or emotions, whcih
cannot be analyzed. The argument of immediacy,
moreover, is used polemically against theories that
beauty is no primary datum, but is the result of sec-
ondary factors, such as utility, education, habit, or
custom.