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

248

THE ARCHITECTUREOF HUMANISM

tiveethics,scienceandtheology,fromtheirpractical

reference,firstbecameandlongremained

the

reason's

principal preoccupation. When, in its turn,

the

mind's disinterested thought arose,

its

speculation

wasinevitablyspentupon thecontradictions

which

primitive ethics, science and theology,

were seen,

eithersinglyorincombination,tocontain. Butthe

impulsealongthispathwhich theintellect

received

inthebeginning,andsolongmaintained,

stillcircum-

scribesitsuse. Itisbyhabitinattentive,by

nature

unsubmissive,totheprocess
whichallthistime was

silentlymouldingandtransfiguringtheartsofform.

Thearts,afterall—

save

on technical

questions

—

haveneversought,
orhavenotsought tillnow,the

reason's interference. Reason supplied the means
;

theyofthemselvesdefinedandfixed
theend. Forart

itselfisaspeciesofthought,

havingitsowndialectic,

arrivingbyitsown processesatits

ownconclusions,

and through the language

of its own forms made

capableof

communication. Theartist,byimmediate

and spontaneous preference,
rejects one form and

substitutes
another, and demonstrates
thereby the

rightness of his emendation.
That is hisdialectic.

Argumentmay

confirm,butdoesnotofitself

supply,

his choice.
In so far then as
his fellow-men are

brought, by sympathy
or imitation,to share
these

preferences,artistic
canonsand
traditions willarise.

But

traditionsdonotexist

invacuo: they

manifest