The Seventh Sense: Francis Hutcheson and Eighteenth-Century British Aesthetics

417 Pages·2003·3.01 MB·English

by  Peter Kivy

The Seventh Sense

The Seventh Sense
Francis Hutcheson and Eighteenth-Century British AestheticsSecond Edition: Revised and Enlarged
Peter Kivy
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Theseventhsense:FrancisHutchesonandeighteenth-centuryBritish
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1. Hutcheson,Francis,1694–1746. 2.Aesthetics,British–18thcentury.I.Title.
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Preface
I have tried to do two things in this book: first, to make an analytic study of Francis Hutcheson's Inquiry Concerning
Beauty, Order, Harmony, Design in some detail and completeness; second, to trace the development in Britain of its
leading idea, the sense of beauty, to its decline at the close of the eighteenth century. Part I occupies itself with the
former task and can be read as a self-contained unit. Part II, along with relevant portions of Part I, can be read as a
history of thesenseof beautyintheBritish Enlightenment.And Parts I and II together are what the[original]subtitle
of this book describes: A Study of Francis Hutcheson's Aesthetics, and Its Influence in Eighteenth-Century Britain.
I see my work as a study in eighteenth-century aesthetics, and I have, therefore, not scrupled to use the noun
“aesthetics” and the adjective“aesthetic” wherever they have seemed to me to be appropriate. But in spiteof the fact
that the terms, in something like the way we now use them, were coined in the first half of the eighteenth century, and
thatphilosophers since Platohavebeen concerned withmetaphysicaland epistemological issues raised by theconcept
of thebeautiful,and whatwe nowcallthefine arts, objections havebeen raised totheuse of these terms indescribing
the work of the eighteenth-century critics and philosophers.
There are two answers to these objections: a short answer and a long one.
I do not know exactly what the long answer is. It would require a detailed study of Enlightenment reflections on art
and beauty with the specific end in view of determining what was being done and whether what was being done
differed significantlyenough from what we do in the name of “aesthetics” to be denied thatname. The presentstudy,
along with many other works of eighteenth-century scholarship, may contribute to the eventual long answer. But the
long answer cannot be given here.
viii PREFACE
The short answer is that surely what was done in the eighteenth century in the way of philosophy of art, of taste, of
criticism, and ofbeautyis more likewhatwecall“aesthetics” thanitis likeanything else. Itis different,too, ofcourse.
But who would expect it to be in every respect the same? A theory can be different from a contemporary aesthetic
theoryandstillbeanaesthetictheory. Therewas, tobesure, nowordineighteenth-centuryBritainthatexactlycaptured
our word “aesthetics”; for although theword was coined, it was notcurrency in theBritish Isles until after the period
withwhichwe are concerned. But Newton,after all,did what theseventeenthand eighteenthcenturiescalled“natural
philosophy.” Should we boggle at calling it “physics”? Such linguisticscruples would be too fussy—and misleading in
the bargain.
It is with pleasure that I acknowledge, now, some old debts, and some newly incurred ones. To my former teachers,
Arthur Danto, Albert Hofstadter, Richard F. Kuhns, Jr., and James J. Walsh, this book owes much substance and
muchofthephilosophicalspirititmayhave. ToGeorgeDickieandElmerSpragueitnowowesfurtherimprovements
in its philosophical and historical content. It owes its mistakes to its author.
P.K.
New York City
June 1974
Preface to the Second Edition
WhenIpublishedTheSeventhSense,in1976,itbecamethefirstbookonFrancisHutcheson'saestheticsandphilosophy
of art in English, or, so far as I know, in any other language. It remains, so far as I know, the only such book. That
certainlyis part of the reason I thought to reissue it now, in a second, enlarged edition. It has long been out of print,
andIregularlyreceiveenquiriesconcerninghowcopiesmightbeobtained.SoIgather thattherestillisaninterestinit,
as I know there is in its subject.
Butthereismoretoitthanthat.WereitmerelythatTheSeventhSenseistheonlybookonHutcheson'saesthetics,Idon't
think that alone would warrant its republication. What does warrant it seems to me to be both its singularity and the
ever-growing pursuit of aesthetics in the philosophical community, bringing along with it the inevitable growth of
interestinthesubject'smodernorigins.Theseoriginsareagreed,onallhands,tolieintheearlyeighteenthcentury,and
in Britain. Furthermore, a very good case can be made for thinking of Hutcheson's Inquiry Concerning Beauty, Order,
Harmony, Design, of 1725, as the inaugural work. It is certainly the first book-length study in what we now call
philosophical aesthetics.
OfcourseIwouldnothavecontemplatedasecondeditionofTheSeventhSenseifIdidnotthinkthat,in1976,Ihadgot
thingsmoreorlessrightaboutHutcheson,andtherestoftheauthorsIwroteofinthebook.AndbecauseIthinkthat,
I have decided to reprint thebook as it is, without revisions. However, needless to say, I only did get things “more or
less” right. I have continued to thinkand write about Hutcheson, and eighteenth-century aesthetics, and many others
have contributed to the ever-growing literature on the subject. In the process, I have become clearer about some
things, less sure of others, and, of course, have also, from time to time, changed my mind. And I thought, therefore,
that