THE INTRODUCTION TO
HEGEL'S PHILOSOPHY OF FINE ART
THE INTRODUCTION TO
HEGEL'S
PHILOSOPHY OF FINE ART
TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN
WITH NOTES AND PREFATORY ESSAY
BY
BERNARD BOSANQUET, M.A.
LATE FELLOW AND TUTOR OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH & CO., 1 PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1886
(The rights of translation and of reproduction are reserved.)
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
Hegel's "Æsthetik," or "Philosophy of Fine Art,"is a work which should no longer be inaccessible tothe English reading public, but the reproductionof which, in its complete form of 1600 pages, is atask not to be lightly undertaken. I know of threepartial reproductions of the "Æsthetik" in English,viz. Mr. Bryant's translation of Part II.,[1] Mr.Kedney's short analysis of the entire work,[2] andMr. Hastie's translation of Michelet's short "Philosophyof Art,"[3] prefaced by Hegel's Introduction,partly translated and partly analysed.
I wholly disapprove of analyses (among whichmay be reckoned Michelet's summary above mentioned)as representations of Hegel's writing, whichis attractive chiefly by the force and freshness ofits detail. I am convinced that Hegel should beallowed to speak for himself, and that failing thetranslation of the whole "Æsthetik," or of verycopious selections, the best course is that whichI have adopted in the present volume, viz. to translatethe entire Introduction, including the chapterentitled, "Division of the Subject." This Introductionis in Hegel's best manner—so far as he canbe said to have literary manner at all, especiallyin a work which has been produced by editors fromlecture-notes,—and is tolerably complete in itself.It is not contained as a whole in any of the above-mentionedworks. I ought to say, however, thatMr. Hastie's translation is excellent in style; butafter the first thirty-four pages it also becomes ananalysis. Nor is it wholly free from serious mistakes.I have hoped that the present volume may be ofinterest to many who, without being students of philosophy,are intelligent lovers of art. I have thereforedone my best to interpret philosophical expressions,instead of merely furnishing their technical equivalents.I have also added a few short notes, eitherto explain literary allusions, or to complete the[Pg vii]interpretation of technical terms. The prefatory essaywas written with a similar intention, not as originalspeculation, but as an assistance to general readersin apprehending the point of view from which FineArt is regarded by Hegel and kindred writers.
I have broken up the "Einleitung," or Introductionproper, which is continuous in the original, intofour chapters,[4] hoping that the arrangement of thediscussion may be thus rendered easier to follow.The "Eintheilung," which forms my Chapter V., isa separate chapter in the original. The table ofcontents is translated from the original, exceptingthose portions of it which are enclosed in squarebrackets, [ ].
My literary notes are entirely borrowed from thelate Mrs. F. C. Conybeare's translation of Scherer's"History of German Literature;" a w