antecedent to and distinct from prospects of interest.
XV.57 Hence it plainly appears, “that some Objects are immediately the Occasions of this Pleasure of Beauty, and that we have Senses fitted for perceiving it; and that it is distinct from that Joy which arises ||58from Self-love|| upon Prospect of Advantage.” Nay, do not we often see Convenience and Use neglected to obtain Beauty, without any other prospect of Advantage in the Beautiful Form, than the suggesting the pleasant Ideas of Beauty? Now this shews us, that however we may pursue beautiful Objects from Self-love, with a view to obtain the Pleasures of Beauty, as in Architecture, Gardening, and many other Affairs; yet there must be a Sense of Beauty, antecedent to Prospects ||59even of|| this Advantage, without which Sense, these Objects would not be thus [13] Advantageous, nor excite in us this Pleasure which constitutes them advantageous. Our Sense of Beauty from Objects, by which they are constituted good to us, is very distinct from our Desire of them when they are thus constituted: Our Desire of Beauty may be counter-ballanc’d by Rewards or Threatnings, but never our Sense of it; even as Fear of Death, ||60or Love of Life,|| may make us ||61chuse and|| desire a bitter Potion, or neglect those Meats which the Sense of Taste would recommend as pleasant; ||62and yet no prospect of Advantage, or Fear of Evil, can|| make that Potion agreeable to the Sense, or ||63Meat|| disagreeable to it, ||64which was|| not so antecedently to this Prospect. ||65Just in the same manner as to|| the Sense of Beauty and Harmony; that the Pursuit of such Objects is frequently neglected, from prospects of Advantage, Aversion to Labour, or any other Motive of ||66Self-love||, does not prove that we have no Sense of Beauty, but only that our Desire of it may be counter-ballanc’d by a stronger Desire||67: So Gold out-weighing Silver, is never adduc’d as a proof that the latter is void of Gravity||.
XVI.68 Had we no such Sense of Beauty and Harmony; Houses, Gardens, Dress, Equipage, might have been recommended to us as convenient, fruitful, warm, easy; but never as beautiful: ||69aAnd in Faces I see no-[14]thing ||70bwhichb|| could please us, but Liveliness of Colour, and Smoothness of Surface:a|| And yet nothing is more certain, than that all these Objects are recommended under quite different Views on many Occasions: ||71And no Custom, Education, or Example could ever|| give us Perceptions distinct from those of the Senses which we had the use of before, or recommend Objects under another Conception than grateful to* them. But of the Influence of Custom, Education, Example, upon the Sense of Beauty, we shall treat below.†
Beauty, Original or Comparative.
||73XVII.|| ||74Beauty|| is either Original or Comparative; or, if any like the Terms better, Absolute, or Relative: Only let it be ||75observ’d||, that by Absolute or Original Beauty, is not understood any Quality suppos’d to be in the Object, ||76which|| should of itself be beautiful, without relation to any Mind which perceives it: For Beauty, like other Names of sensible Ideas, properly denotes the Perception of some Mind; so Cold, ||77Hot||, Sweet, Bitter, denote the Sensations in our Minds, to which perhaps there is no resemblance in the Objects, ||78which|| excite these Ideas in us, however we generally imagine ||79that there is something in the Object just like our Perception||. The Ideas of Beauty and [15] Harmony being excited upon our Perception of some primary Quality, and having relation to Figure and Time, may indeed have a nearer resemblance to Objects, than these Sensations, ||80which|| seem not so much any Pictures of Objects, as Modifications of the perceiving Mind; and yet were there no Mind with a Sense of Beauty to contemplate Objects, I see not how they could be call’d beautiful. We therefore by* Absolute Beauty understand only that Beauty, which we perceive in Objects without comparison to any thing external, of which the Object is suppos’d an Imitation, or Picture; such as that Beauty perceiv’d from the Works of Nature, artificial Forms, Figures||82, Theorems||. Comparative or Relative Beauty is that which we perceive in Objects, commonly considered as Imitations or Resemblances of something else. These two Kinds of Beauty employ the three following Sections. [16]
Of Original or Absolute Beauty.
Sense of Men.
I. Since it is certain that we have Ideas of Beauty and Harmony, let us examine what Quality in Objects excites these Ideas, or is the occasion of them. And let it be here observ’d, that our Inquiry is only about the Qualitys ||1which|| are beautiful to Men; or about the Foundation of their Sense of Beauty: for, as was above hinted, Beauty has always relation to the Sense of some Mind; and when we afterwards shew how generally the Objects ||2which|| occur to us, are beautiful, we mean ||3that such Objects are|| agreeable to the Sense of Men: ||4for as there are not a few|| Objects, which seem no way beautiful to Men, ||5so we see a variety of|| other Animals ||6who|| seem delighted with them; they may have Senses otherwise constituted than those of Men, and may have the Ideas of Beauty excited by Objects of a quite different Form. We see Animals fitted for every Place; and what to Men appears rude and shapeless, or loathsom, may be to them a Paradise.
II. That we may more distinctly discover the general Foundation or Occasion of [17] the Ideas of Beauty among Men, it will be necessary to consider it first in its simpler Kinds, such as occurs to us in regular Figures; and we may perhaps find that the same Foundation extends to all the more complex Species of it.
Uniformity with Variety.
III. The Figures ||7which|| excite in us the Ideas of Beauty, seem to be those in which there is Uniformity amidst Variety. There are many Conceptions of Objects ||8which|| are agreeable upon other accounts, such as Grandeur, Novelty, Sanctity, and some others, ||9which shall be mention’d hereafter.*|| But what we call Beautiful in Objects, to speak in the Mathematical Style, seems to be in a compound Ratio of Uniformity and Variety: so that where the Uniformity of Bodys is equal, the Beauty is as the Variety; and where the Variety is equal, the Beauty is as the Uniformity. This ||10will be plain from Examples.||
Variety.
First, the Variety increases the Beauty in equal Uniformity. The Beauty of an equilateral Triangle is less than that of the Square; which is less than that of a Pentagon; and this again is surpass’d by the Hexagon. When indeed the Number of Sides is much increas’d, the Proportion of them to the Radius, or Diameter of the [18] Figure, ||11or of the Circle to which regular Polygons have an obvious Relation,|| is so much lost to our Observation, that the Beauty does not always increase with the Number of Sides; and the want of Parallelism in the Sides of Heptagons, and other Figures of odd Numbers, may also diminish their Beauty. So in Solids, the Eicosiedron surpasses the Dodecaedron, and this the Octaedron, which is still more beautiful than the Cube; and this again surpasses the regular Pyramid: The obvious Ground of this, is greater Variety with equal Uniformity.
Uniformity.
The greater Uniformity increases the Beauty amidst equal Variety, in these Instances: An Equilateral Triangle, or even an Isosceles, surpasses the Scalenum: A Square surpasses the Rhombus or Lozenge, and this again the Rhomboides, ||12which is|| still more beautiful than the Trapezium, or any Figure with irregular curve Sides. So the regular Solids ||13vastly|| surpass all other Solids of equal number of plain Surfaces: And the same is observable not only in the Five perfectly regular Solids, but in all those which have any considerable Uniformity, as Cylinders, Prisms, Pyramids, Obelisks; which please every Eye more than any rude Figures, where there is no Unity or Resemblance among the Parts. [19]
Compound Ratio.
Instances of the compound Ratio we have in comparing Circles or Spheres, with Ellipses or Spheroids not very