Excerpt from The Philosophy of the Beautiful: Being Outlines of the History of Æsthetics This book originated in a course of lectures delivered to the Philosophical Institution of Edinburgh in 1889, and afterwards to a University Extension audience in London, and at Cheltenham. In these lectures a discussion of the Philosophy of Beauty, and an attempt at constructive theory, preceded an outline of the History of Opinion, and a critical analysis of the chief theories of Æsthetic. The former section of the course was longer than the latter, and it was my original intention to expand both of them, in somewhat equal proportions, into a connected Treatise. In making a more minute study of the literature of the subject, however, the works of many minor writers had to be examined, as well as those which have a claim to rank as major. Although they have not added anything absolutely new to the philosophy of Æsthetics, they have usually restated the problem, common to them all, in such a way as to entitle them to mention - and to honourable mention - in any History, that lays claim to be even approximately complete. In such a matter, finality is of course impossible; but fulness, as well as accuracy, is essential in every record of opinion. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.