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

THE

BIOLOGICAL FALLACY

169

knowledgeof

theirantecedents. Exnihilo nihil

fit;

the nature of things is latent in their past. The

myriadformsofarchitecturefall,
bythe

compulsion

ofthisprinciple,intonecessaryorder. Theinterest

ofthestudyshiftsfromthetermsofthesequenceto

the

sequenceitself. In

suchaviewthereisnoplace

forpraiseorblame. Themostodiouscharacteristics

of an art become convenient
evidences

of heredity

and environment, by means ofwhich every object

canbedulysetinagrandandluminousperspective.

Thistendencyofthemind wasa needed

corrective

to the Ethical Criticism
;

and the clear light of

philosophic calm replaces, in these expositions, the

tragic splendour of denunciatory wraths.

Never-

theless,the direction of the tendencyis unmistak-

able. Itisalevellingtendency. Theless

successful

momentsofthearchitecturalsequencehavean

equal

placewiththegreatest. Morethanthis, theminor

periods,thetransitionalandtentativephases,

acquire,

when our interest is centred in the sequence, a

superior
interest to

the outstanding landmarks of

achieved style. For the intellectual

problem is,

precisely,
to

connecttheselandmarkswithoneanother

andwiththeirobscureorigins.

Hencenotinarchi-

'

tecturealone, butinmanyotherfieldsofstudy—

in

religion,
for instance,

and mythology

—

^asharp pro-

minenceisgiventowhatisprimitiveand

submerged,

at the expense, inevitably, of

the classic points of