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On The Principles of Genial Criticism by Samuel T. Coleridge

 

The essay displays the influence of Kant's Critique of Judgment in its attempt to distinguish the *“beautiful "* from the *"agreeable"* on the one hand and *“good”* from *“beautiful”* on the other hand. The discussion recalls Kant's treatment of the beautiful and his idea of purposiveness without purpose.

Agreeable refers to matching objects with sense. Habit, culture, and prenotion condition Agreeabe. It varies from person to person: but beauty is universal. *Agreeable is not necessarily pleasurable, it is sometimes determined by compulsion too.* The object that pleases our senses is agreeable. Coleridge uses the word *“agreeable”* in two senses; the first is that we agree with nature which is derived from our primary senses. In the sentence ‘the tree is green’, our primary senses press on the greenness of the tree which is naturally agreeable to the eye. The word 'green' express the reestablished harmony between the organs and their appointed objects. The second sense regarding agreeable conveys the idea that someone or something which is pleasing, becomes agreeable by recalling it in our mind. In this sense, the particular thing, which is agreeable or not, depends on the pleasure and advantages. Coleridge says that something that is useful is good. It is determined by the utilitarian aspect. So, good is guided by intellect or reason and will. It is associated with a certain value. The pleasure provided by the ‘good’ is an intellectual pleasure. The reason is in operation in the Good. In Good, there is the desire and an act of will on the side of the perceiver. The ‘Good’ provokes intellectual power in us. The will leads us to action and action to rationality. The moment we intellectualize we derive abstraction.

Beauty is multeity in unity. Beauty depends on secondary imagination. Beautiful art is organic, not mechanical. Organic art has a relationship between parts and whole. Every part has a relation with another part and all. For example, all the parts of a wheel have a relation with the center of the wheel which is an organic whole. The state of beauty is a state of disinterestedness that has no social purpose but it has an aesthetic purpose. To enjoy the beauty, we have to exercise mentally. There is no act of will, no reason, and no interest in beauty. Common things become uncommon in “beautiful”. Beautiful does not serve a utilitarian purpose, which can be recognized by disinterested contemplation.

Beauty can transcend the world of reason value and sense.

*AgreeableSensuous*

*GoodIntellectual*

*BeautifulContemplative*

On The Principles of Genial Criticism by Samuel T. Coleridge On The Principles of Genial Criticism by Samuel T. Coleridge Reviewed by Debjeet on January 02, 2023 Rating: 5

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