Elements of CriticismGraphic Arts Books, 2021 M11 16 - 646 pages Elements of Criticism (1762) is a philosophical work by Henry Home, Lord Kames. Published at the height of his career as a leading legal and cultural figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, Elements of Criticism has been credited as a crucial academic work in the development of modern English literary studies. “The science of criticism tends to improve the heart not less than the understanding...A just taste in the fine arts, by sweetening and harmonizing the temper, is a strong antidote to the turbulence of passion and violence of pursuit. Elegance of taste procures to a man so much enjoyment at home, or easily within reach, that in order to be occupied, he is, in youth, under no temptation to precipitate into hunting, gaming, drinking; nor, in middle age, to deliver himself over to ambition; nor, in old age, to avarice.” Although he is largely unheard of today, Henry Home was an integral figure in the elevation of the art of literary criticism as a subject in universities around Britain and the world. His central thesis is that criticism itself stems from the senses and directly relates to humanity’s capacity for reason. Through art, Home believed, humanity could live both morally and in harmony with the natural world, thereby creating a civilization rooted in virtue and creativity. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henry Home, Lord Kames’ Elements of Criticism is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers. |
From inside the book
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... admits not variety of opinion; and in some matters susceptible of great refinement, time is perhaps the only infallible touch-stone of taste. To this he appeals, and to this he chearfully submits. N. B. THE ELEMENTS OF CRITICISM ...
... admit sufficient variety, introduce a method in the management of affairs. Without them our conduct would be fluctuating and desultory; and we would be hurried from thought to thought, and from action to action, entirely at the mercy of ...
... admits not anytime but the present. I have had occasion to observe10, that ideas both of memory and of speech, produce emotions of the same kind with what are produced by an immediate view of the object; only fainter, in proportion as ...
... admit any irregular fact; for an irregular fact always puzzles the judgement. Doubtful of its reality we immediately enter upon reflection, and discovering the cheat, lose all relish and concern. This is an unhappy effect; for ...
... admit not any exceptions. The nature of an emotion or passion as pleasant or painful, depends entirely on its cause. An agreeable object produceth always a pleasant emotion; and a disagreeable object produceth always a painful emotion12 ...
Contents
BEAUTY | |
GRANDEUR AND SUBLIMITY | |
MOTION AND FORCE | |
NOVELTY AND THE UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE OF OBJECTS | |
RISIBLE OBJECTS | |
CUSTOM AND HABIT | |
EXTERNAL SIGNS OF EMOTIONS AND PASSIONS | |
SENTIMENTS | |
LANGUAGE OF PASSION | |
BEAUTY OF LANGUAGE | |
VOLUME III | |
COMPARISONS | |
FIGURES | |
RESEMBLANCE AND CONTRAST | |
OF UNIFORMITY AND VARIETY | |
VOLUME II | |
CONGRUITY AND PROPRIETY | |
OF DIGNITY AND MEANNESS | |
RIDICULE | |
XIII | |
NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION | |
EPIC AND DRAMATIC COMPOSITIONS | |
THE THREE UNITIES | |
GARDENING AND ARCHITECTURE | |
STANDARD OF TASTE | |