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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... considered as a sensitive being, capable of pleasure and pain. And though he flatters himself with having made some progress in that important science, he is however too sensible of its extent and difficulty, to undertake it professedly ...
... considered as productive of action. These branches are so interwoven, as to make it necessary that they be handled together. It is a fact universally admitted, that no emotion nor passion ever starts up in the mind, without a known ...
... end desired, is termed a motive. Thus passions considered as causes of action, are distinguished into two kinds; instinctive, and deliberative. The first operating blindly and by mere impulse, depend entirely upon the.
... considered beforehand, becomes a motive, which joins its force with the original impulse in determining us to act. Thus a child eats by the mere impulse of hunger: a young man thinks of the pleasure of gratification, which is a motive ...
... considered apart4. This reason may appear obscure and metaphysical, but it must be relished when we attend to the following examples, which establish the fact beyond all dispute. No relation is more intimate than that betwixt a being ...
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 | |