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.
