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Text A The Idea of Beauty（第1页）

TextATheIdeaofBeauty

JoshuaReynolds

Pre-reading

SirJoshuaReynolds（1723-1792）ortraitpainteraiinatedEnglishartistithemiddleahtury。Hepromotedthe“GrandStyle”inpaintingwhidedoionoftheimperfepletedover3000worksofart，ingafewprelimiches。WiththefoundingoftheRoyalAcademyofArtin1768，Reynoldswaselecteditsfirstpresident，apositioiltheendofhislife。HewasknightedbyKingGeeⅢin1769。

SirJoshuaReynoldswasalsoaerandaclosefriendofSamuelJohnson。HisDiscourses，aseriesoflecturesdeliveredattheAcademybetween1769and1790，arerememberedfortheirsensitivityaion。

Thisessay（inallyuappearedinJohnson’sTheIdler（1759）。

Promptsf

1。Whatdoyouimagihor’sideaofbeauty?

2。Howwedetermiisbeautiful?

3。Howdowedeveloptheabilitytodistiyfromdeformity?

4。WhatdoaNaturalistandaPainterhaveinon?

5。Whatroledoeshabitandplayagtotheauthor?

6。Whatisthepointoftheexampleofas>

7。Howdoestheauthorveyhisideaofbeautytothereadereffectively?

8。Howdoestheauthordefihepassage?

9。h13about?

10。Isthereaforbeauty?Isbeautysubjectiveorobjective?

[1]DisginmylastletteronthedifferentpracticeoftheItalianandDutters，Iobservedthat“theItaliaendsonlytotheihegreat，andgeneralideas，whicharefixedaiure。”

[2]IwaslediofthisletterbyeofixtheihisductoftheItaliabeprovedthatbythischoicetheyselectedthemostbeautifulpartofthe，itmuchtheirprinciplesarefoundedonreason，aime，discinofourideasofbeauty。

[3]Isupposeitwillbeeasilygranomanjudgewhetheranyaifulinitskind，ordeformed，whohasseespecies;thisisasregardtothehumaifaman，bornbliht，abeautifulwhtbeforehim，heihershewasha;beautifulandmostdeformedwereproduced，couldheaermiowhichheshouldgivethepreferengseenoodistihen，implieshavingseenmanyindividualsofthatspecies。Ifitisasked，howismoreskillacquiredbytheobservatioernumbers?

[4]Ia，inceofhavihepowerisacquired，evenwithoutseeki，ofdistinguishiweealblemishes1andexces2whitinuallyvaryingthesurfaature’sworks，andtheinvariablegeneralformwhiaturemostfrequentlyprodudalwaysseemstointeions。

[5]Thusamongstthebladesofgrassorleavesofthesametree，thoughnotwobefoulyalike，thegeneralformisiuralist，beforeheeasasample，wouldexaminemaookthefirstthatoccurred，itmighthavebyatorotherwisesuasthatitwouldscarowhatspecies;heselectsasthePaihemostbeautiful，thatis，themostgeneralformofnature。

[6]Everyspeciesoftheanimalaswellasthevegetableaybesaidtohaveafixedordetermiowardswhiatureisuallying，likevariousliire;oritmaybeparedtopendulumsvibratingiionsoveroralpoint:andastheyallcrossthetre，thoughohrougha，soitwillbefoubeautyisoftenerproduaturethay:Idohayithananyonekiy。Toinstanaparticularpartofafeature:thelifeoftheifulwhenitisstraight;this，theralform，whichisoftehahervex，oranyularformthatshallbeproposed。Aswearetheomedtobeautythay，wemaycludethattobethereasonrovea，asroveaomsandfashionsofdressfornootherreasonthanthatweareusedtothem;sothatthoughhabitandotbesaidtobethecauseofbeauty，itislythecauseit;abutthatifweweremoreusedtodeformitythay，deformitywouldtheheidea，aofbeauty:asifthewholeworldshouldagree，thatyesandnoshouldgetheirmeahendeny，andno>

[7]Whoeveruoproceedfurtherinthisargument，aofixageerioyrespegdiffereoshowwhyonespeciesismorebeautifulthawillberequiredfromhimfirsttoprovethatonespeciesisreallymorebeautifulthawepreferoher，andwithverygoodreason，willbereadilygradoesnotfollowfromthewethinkitamorebeautifulform;forwehavenobywhiinement。Hewhosaysaswaifulthanadove，meahanthathehasmorepleasureinseeingaswanthaherfromthestatelismotions，oritsbeingamorerarebird;andhewhogivesthepreferehedove，doesitfromsomeassoofideasofinnocewhichhealwaysahedove;butifhepreteheprefereooherbyeoprovethatthismorebeautifulformproaparticulargradationofmagion5ofacurve，ordireofalieverotheraginationheshallfixon，asa，hewillbeuallytradighimself，andfindatlastthatthegreatMotherofbesubjectedtosuarrowrules。Amongthevariousreasonswhywepreferoofherworkstoahemostgeneral，Ibelieve，ishabitandmakes，iaiebladblackwhite;itisaloerminesourpreferehecoloroftheEuropeahiopians，ahesamereasoheirowncolortoours。Isupposenobodywilldoubt，ifoersweretopainttheGoddessofBeauty，butthathewouldrepresentherblack，withthicklips，flatnose，andwoollyhair;aome，hewouldanaturallyifhedidnot，forbywhatwillaethepropriety6ofhisidea?WeihattheformandcoloroftheEuropeaothatoftheEthiopian;butIknowofnootherreaso，butthatwearemoreaedtoit。Itisabsurdtosaythatbeautyispossessedofattractivepowers，whichirresistiblyseizetheindwithloveandadmiratioargumentisequallyfavorofthewhiteandtheblackphilosophers。

[8]Thebladwhitenationsmust，iofbeauty，besideredasofdifferentkiadifferehesamekind;fromoneofwhichtotheother，asIobserved，noinferenbedrawn。

[9]yissaidtobeohecausesofbeauty。Thatyisaverysuffitreasonwhyweshouldadmireisbecauseitisunon，isitthereforebeautiful?Thebeautythatisproducedbycolor，aswhenwepreferohofthesameform，onatofitscolor，hasnothingtodowiththeargument，whichrealytoform。

[10]IhaveheresideredthewordBeautyasbeingproperlyappliedtoformalohereisayoffixingthisedsehereent，ifthesehewordisextehingthatisapproved。Arosemayaswellbesaidtobebeautifulbecauseithasafinesmell，asabirdbecauseofitscolor。

[11]lythewordBeauty，wedonotmeanalwaysbyitamorebeautifulform，butsomethingvaluableonatofitsrarity，usefulness，color，oray。Ahorseissaidtobeabeautifulanimal;buthadahorseasfewgoodqualitiesasatortoise，Idonotimagiheiful。

[12]Afitheendproposedissaidtobeanothercauseofbeauty;butsupposingwewerepresofwhatformisthemostproperinananimaltostitutestrengthorswiftness，wealwaysdetermisbeauty，beforeweexerttojudgeofitsfitness。