4) The NON-mechanic nature of sympathy
1) The Humean explanation why we sympathetically feel the beauty of the property of another person shows that the principle of sympathy fails to operate completely mechanically, even if it works systematically. According to Hume, we are affected by the beauty of another person’s house because we sympathize with the owner, we “enter into his interest by the force of imagination, and feel the same satisfaction, that the objects naturally occasion on him.” To find an object beautiful, we need to be aware of the fact that it has “a tendency to produce pleasure in its possessor” or it brings some advantages to its owner. If the principle of sympathy was totally mechanic, the beauty of the appearance of the …show more content…
His argument for the reason why we feel a sympathetic pleasure when seeing someone else’s beautiful house asserts that the sense of beauty is intimately connected to utility. The proposition is supported by the example of the image of two hillsides, one of which is covered in beautifully blossoming furze and broom, while the other in vines and olive-trees. To the person who is not familiar with the value of each, both hillsides in bloom might appear equally beautiful. Yet, who knows the value of wine and that of olive oil cannot feel the mere flowery bushes to be as beautiful as the lavish vines and olive-trees. Consequently, he cannot admire the owner of a hillside covered in furze and broom as much as the owner of vine and olive-trees. Apparently, the mechanism of sympathy is not automatic at this point: what appears to the senses does not simply initiate the process of sympathizing. One needs to be well-acquainted with the worth and utility of the otherwise beautiful object in order to appraise its real value. Without the appropriate knowledge of assessment, the sense of beauty is not excited to its full potential. Besides knowledge or familiarity with the object, the assistance of the imagination is also needed in this part of the process of sympathy. Namely, it is the imagination which attaches particular thoughts to the sensually perceived beauties of the object. In case one knew about the practical value and utility of a beautiful object, but failed to connect it with the impression produced by the senses, the feeling of sympathetic pleasure would not be excited with great intensity. On these grounds, sympathetic feelings of beauty cannot be regarded as completely
1) The Humean explanation why we sympathetically feel the beauty of the property of another person shows that the principle of sympathy fails to operate completely mechanically, even if it works systematically. According to Hume, we are affected by the beauty of another person’s house because we sympathize with the owner, we “enter into his interest by the force of imagination, and feel the same satisfaction, that the objects naturally occasion on him.” To find an object beautiful, we need to be aware of the fact that it has “a tendency to produce pleasure in its possessor” or it brings some advantages to its owner. If the principle of sympathy was totally mechanic, the beauty of the appearance of the …show more content…
His argument for the reason why we feel a sympathetic pleasure when seeing someone else’s beautiful house asserts that the sense of beauty is intimately connected to utility. The proposition is supported by the example of the image of two hillsides, one of which is covered in beautifully blossoming furze and broom, while the other in vines and olive-trees. To the person who is not familiar with the value of each, both hillsides in bloom might appear equally beautiful. Yet, who knows the value of wine and that of olive oil cannot feel the mere flowery bushes to be as beautiful as the lavish vines and olive-trees. Consequently, he cannot admire the owner of a hillside covered in furze and broom as much as the owner of vine and olive-trees. Apparently, the mechanism of sympathy is not automatic at this point: what appears to the senses does not simply initiate the process of sympathizing. One needs to be well-acquainted with the worth and utility of the otherwise beautiful object in order to appraise its real value. Without the appropriate knowledge of assessment, the sense of beauty is not excited to its full potential. Besides knowledge or familiarity with the object, the assistance of the imagination is also needed in this part of the process of sympathy. Namely, it is the imagination which attaches particular thoughts to the sensually perceived beauties of the object. In case one knew about the practical value and utility of a beautiful object, but failed to connect it with the impression produced by the senses, the feeling of sympathetic pleasure would not be excited with great intensity. On these grounds, sympathetic feelings of beauty cannot be regarded as completely