The architecture of humanism; a study in the history of taste

THE

ETHICAL FALLi^Y

159

morality of

the artist in

hisworkas

a criterionof

theaestbeticvalue,

ofthestyle.

IV

Thusfaritmay

seemthatwhenever

thecriticism

of architecture

has taken moral

preference as its

consciousprinciple,ithas

forthwithledtoconfusion.

Whether its

method has been theological

or utili-

tarianorintuitive,ithas

cometothesameend: it

hasraiseda

prejudiceanddestroyedatastewithout

cause,

logic,oradvantage.

Arewethen tosay,

with thecriticson theother

side,

that moral issues are utterly different from

aestheticissues,andexpel

themoralcriticismofarchi-

tecture,its

vocabularyanditsassociations,altogether

from

ourthought? Forthis,

wesaw,

hasbeen

the

favouriteretort,andthis

isthemethodwhichthose

critics

whohave an exacter sense of architectural

techniquehavetended

toadopt.

Butamongtheconsequencesofthemoralcriticism

of

architecture,not theleastdisastroushasbeenits

influenceonitsopponents.

Wehave,infact,atthismomenttwotraditions

of

criticism.

On the onehand thereis atradition in

whichtheerrorsexaminedinthischapterfindtheir

soil
; atraditionof

criticismconstantly

unjust,some-

timesunctuous,oftenignorant; atradition,neverthe-

less, of
great

literary power. Into this channelall