CHAPTER SEVEN HOW OBJECTS ARE RELATED IN THEIR ASPECT OF VALUE
What uniformities of relation are discovered by our responses of appreciation? This is the question to be answered in the present chapter. It is the question upon which the whole issue turns; for unless such relations are discoverable and can be clearly defined there is no reason to believe in the existence of a “spiritual order.”
The first of these relations which hold among objects in virtue of the different qualities which make them interesting and valuable is coherence of character. It is discovered by the response of appreciative understanding.
While the objects of perception change and pass, the correlated qualities which characterize
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them continually recur, or rather persist, as the permanent kinds and classes of things we encounter in daily life. The coat which I now wear has kept its identity in spite of wear and tear, because it continued to possess certain qualities like comparative wholeness, fit, warmth, etc. In time it will go to pieces and be discarded. But as long as I live and am active I shall need a coat; its place will be taken by another garment possessing the same character and standing in the same relations to the rest of my wardrobe, to my health and comfort, to my individual possessions, to the industrial economy, and to social conventions. Particular objects of perception change and pass, it is true, but still they are woven by identities and diversities of constituent qualities into a permanent system of meaning. Coats and pencils, houses and trees, even mountains and lakes, appear and disappear, but the intelligible world to which
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they belong and which makes place for these and all related classes and kinds of objects, endures. If we fail to understand this, it is because we think of our perceptions as impressions made on our senses by external objects which get what permanence and order they possess from the regular course of physical nature. But such an understanding of perception is certainly far from the truth. When we perceive an object we identify it as possessing certain qualities and complexes of qualities which are familiar because they are constantly recurring in the same and different connections. And these constituent qualities which we recognize in an object because we have met each and every one of them in many other objects as well, serve to interconnect it with these objects by countless threads of meaning.
Even the different sense-qualities which
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we recognize and identify in objects imply and connote one another. To discriminate a specific hue and tint of color is to presuppose the whole range or system of colors. Colors are inseparable from shape and texture. Color, shape, and texture, in some objects at least, involve qualities of taste and smell and temperature. But so far as our everyday dealings with objects are concerned, the meaning which any object has for us depends upon which of its qualities are selected as the key to its nature. Upon the desk before me is a long slender metal object. I see it as a paper knife. As such it is part of the equipment of my desk, thus falls in with pencil and paper and blotter, suggests books and periodicals and, if this line of association prevails, the whole field of my professional work. But this paper knife is shaped like a dagger. If this feature dominated my attention, I would perceive it not as a paper knife but
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as a weapon. It would then bring to my mind the other weapons used in human combat and might suggest the subject of human warfare at large and its effects upon international relations and the social history of mankind. Or again the object in question, being artistically designed, might be perceived as a table ornament. As such, it would belong by nature with other objects beautifully wrought in brass and iron, and thereupon by implication ,with beautiful creations in other branches of fine art.
In the case of most familiar things, it is the human use they subserve, the human interest they fulfill, which is the feature about them affording the most convenient and meaningful basis of classification. In the previous illustration, I perceived the brass-piece as a paper knife because its adaptation to this use caught my attention as the outstanding thing about it. A primitive savage if he noticed it would
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probably perceive it as a deadly weapon. When an object is thus understood in terms of its human use or social function, it is given a meaning which persists as its permanent character in spite of all physical wear and tear, as long as it retains these crucial qualities which make it useful. This meaning is shared by all other objects which in spite of incidental differences possess these same important qualities. Hence the object implies a group of objects which although differing endlessly among themselves still form a single class because they have in common some humanly interesting and socially important quality. And this interest, served by the class to which the object belongs, implies other diverse and correlated interests along with the classes and kinds of objects which serve them. Thus the meaning of any object implies the real existence of a system of objects related to the persisting interests of the human individual
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and of mankind. it is this system which the response of appreciative understanding calls up; within its enduring organization a permanent place is found for the object of present apprehension; the object perceived loses its connection with the confused and changing sense world and becomes a member of that more stable order of meaning and value which human intelligence and invention have discovered.
Still, the meaning which is given to objects when they are interpreted in the light of their bearing upon human needs and interests is in many cases only provisional and is certainly inadequate. Such interpretation answers very well in the case of objects of human contrivance and manufacture: clothing and implements and weapons, house furnishings, cooking utensils, vehicles, and the like. Even in the case of other classes of objects, such as those of the natural world, it
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would he a mistake, however, to suppose that this type of interpretation is wholly human and subjective, and that the meanings which are thus defined have no objective import or significance. It is true that the interests and purposes of human individuals differ and that under their influence each individual would be led to a somewhat different understanding of the objects of his environment, natural and social. On the other hand, it is equally true that the fundamental interests of mankind are identical and common interests which, with the advance of industrial arts and social regulation, become organized into a stable and inclusive system. Now it throws no little light upon the nature of the existing world and the objects which compose it, that these varied but enduring interests of human nature have found in the existing world the specific qualities and complexes of qualities required for their satisfaction.
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These interests and desires, persisting through years and generations of organized social life, have been met by objects characterized by similarly permanent differences of quality and relation. The continuing identity of personal and social experience which accompanies the ceaseless change of vital process and of individual existence in the human species finds its complement in an enduring system of different but interrelated qualities in the objects of the external world.
In spite of all this, we should agree that to understand a certain kind of tree as the tree-whose-bark-makes-good-corks is inadequate and that the meaning thus given to the tree has little objective significance. This way of understanding objects we are not wrong in regarding as an anthropomorphic conceit, resting upon the assumption, of course untenable, that the life of our human species is the be-all and end-all of the natural
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universe, and out needs and wants the key to the nature of its every object. In truth such interpretation of natural objects is not merely inadequate; it defeats its own purpose. It takes no account of things which have not been recognized as useful or injurious or pleasing; it encourages the neglect of all properties in objects except those of known practical import and utility. But the fulfillment of the increasing needs of associated mankind depends upon the discovery of new uses for familiar objects and also of new sources for supplying them.
Hence man is led to seek an understanding of objects based upon their own inherent character rather than his interests and desires. To gain such an understanding of an object he must select as the key to its meaning not such of its qualities as have a direct human import and utility but those which serve to connect it most intimately with other members
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of the class to which it belongs and to distinguish it most clearly from other types and kinds of objects. He must discover those characteristics common to vast numbers of objects whose differences and variations serve as the most illuminating, comprehensive and enduring marks of distinction and bonds of relation between them. This change from a subjective to an objective interpretation of natural phenomena is well illustrated by the history of attempted classification of plant and animal forms. Men first classified berries and fruit, we may suppose, as good to eat, not good to eat, and poisonous; animals as ,dangerous and harmless. Aristotle made an attempt at objective classification. But the first classification to gain general acceptance was that of Linnaeus, successful because based upon a detailed study of the structure of countless plant and animal forms and a selection for purposes of classification, of
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structures whose variations clearly distinguished the sub-classes or varieties within the unity of the species. The Linnaen system lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century when the general acceptance of the Darwinian principle set naturalists to looking for other structures more valuable as bases of classification because they indicated fundamental and far-reaching relations of descent among living forms.
By such a process of correlation based upon an analysis of their own intrinsic qualities and relations, the meaning of observed objects is enlarged far beyond the limits set by the vital necessities of any individual or the practical interests of any group. Once this attempt at a complete understanding of existing objects is begun it cannot stop short of its goal (not yet attained and probably never to be attained) of a systematic correlation which shall
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include all objects and organize them into a coherent, self-consistent system.
In explaining the order and organization of this world, different principles of interpretation are employed: the physico-mathematical, in terms of quantitative correspondence and mathematical ratio; the evolutionary interpretation in terms of development and emergence; the ethical interpretation, in terms of personal character and association. But in all these interpretations, the identities or uniformities discovered are, from the standpoint of appreciative understanding, identities in difference, uniformities which connect objects of diverse character into an organized system.
Undoubtedly human interest and purpose are operative in this intellectual enterprise, this attempt at a complete understanding of the existing world. But they are interests not of particular individuals or groups of
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individuals, but of the social intelligence of man in the general and inclusive sense. They are interests in a common understanding, in the communication of meaningful experiences, in the rational control of existing objects. In so far as these interests gain fulfillment, the unity and continuity of the world of social intelligence finds its external complement in the enduring character and coherent organization of the world of intelligible meaning. And this, be it noticed, is no mere “thought-world”; it is a real world, the intelligible world of rational insight and discourse.
There are other modes of appreciation than the intellectual, two other appreciative responses besides that of understanding. Both of these other responses bring to light fundamental forms of correlation between existing objects in their aspect of value. The organizing relation discovered
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by our response of practical invention is what we may call the functional adaptability of objects. It means that objects reveal to our inventive imagination potencies of functional contribution to the coherent system which includes them, contribution to its stability and further development. Objects may appeal, that is to say, to our powers of practical invention as capable of contributing through their distinctive qualities to the formation of new objects with new combinations of qualities which are also interesting and valuable. The progress of social organization among men has depended from the beginning upon such practical discoveries and inventions. They range from the simplest practical adjustments and contrivances to the most elaborate mechanical and social inventions. The many uses to which water and fire have been put are excellent illustrations of the
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relationship to which I am now referring. Water possesses among other properties that of being a solvent. When set boiling by fire its power as a solvent and chemical agent is greatly increased. This fact makes possible the cooking of meat and vegetables and the brewing of nutritious and stimulating drinks. Certain leaves and berries, to take the latter case,, contain a substance that is stimulating or strengthening to the human organism. These leaves or berries, perhaps after crushing or pulverizing, are boiled or simmered in water and the result is a new drink with properties of its own. Another property of .fire5l or of the heat it gives off, is to dry and harden, as the sun dries and hardens the clay, or fire dried the moisture and mud in the caveman's home. Special kinds of clay are capable of being easily molded into the shape of containers and receptacles. Let the fire be applied to the molded clay under suitable
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conditions and the result is pottery with its new and distinctive qualities and its many uses.
Precisely the same relation among objects, that of contributing through characteristic and distinctive qualities to the formation of new objects with novel and important properties of their own, is illustrated by the most advanced methods of mechanical production. Contiguous deposits of coal and iron ore interest the industrial promoter because of the possibility they create of the economical manufacture of steel and steel products. Also large supplies of pulpwood along with waterfalls for the generation of electrical power, because they offer favorable conditions for the manufacture of paper. No more perfect illustration of the relation in question could be afforded than that of the automobile or airplane. The properties of gasoline had been long known. It was valued as a
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solvent and a cleaning agent; while its inflammability and explosiveness were much feared. But vaporized and brought into effective connection with the electric spark, a water or air cooling system, and other devices and agencies, it has given us the internal combustion engine. And introduced into an appropriate structure made possible by the qualities of steel, aluminum and fiber, this has given us the automobile and airplane.
Nor is this adaptability, this potentiality, of new properties and effects confined to inanimate objects. It holds true of living beings as well. Let the dog be harnessed to the sled and trained to pull it and he manifests qualities of obedience, steadiness, and endurance that he has never shown when running wild or when kept as a pet. The work of Burbank and others in plant breeding has opened a wide range of new possibilities in the way of producing plant-forms with new characters
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and combinations of characters. There is no reason to suppose that the animal organism, even including man, is any less plastic and adaptable, although there may be more technical difficulties in exploring its potentialities. We are even considering the possibility of molding the dispositions and impulses of the human individual to suit the requirements of civilized social life by a process of selective breeding.
In the field of social conduct and control inventive intelligence in the same way sees possibilities of eliciting new responses by altering the forms and conditions of social interaction. The introduction of the “fine” or compensation to replace blood-revenge was such a social invention: the custom, that is to say, of requiring the offender to humble himself, to make public redress and to present substantial gifts in order to repair the injury done, created a totally new social situation
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to which the parties concerned reacted in an unprecedented way. The development of the technique of modem publicity and advertising has likewise meant the emergence of new tendencies and propensities on the part of the buying public which promise to have important economic and social consequences.
Certainly the value which we appreciate in objects consists to a large extent in the potencies of adaptation, use, and development, which they reveal to our inventive imagination. The inventive imagination is aroused,, is fired by the varied and endless possibilities which it sees in the object, by the range of new objects and activities to which it opens the way. These possibilities present themselves only when our thought has discovered the distinctive qualities and relations which give meaning and character to existing objects. Before such attributes and relations are understood,
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constructive imagination has no material to work with. But once they are discovered, the qualities which characterize existing objects appear to inventive imagination as susceptible of separation and recombination, their relations of alteration and readjustment. The result of such imagination is the appearance of new features of special interest and significance. Because these possibilities of reconstruction and transformation in actual objects await such discovery, however, we have no reason to think of them as existing merely in thought and imagination. They are in the real world itself, in the structure and possibilities of actual objects. To be sure, particular constructions and readjustments have to be worked out by detailed experimentation but the general possibilities of adaptation and reconstruction are resident in the actual world. As far as the verification by practical experiment is concerned this, as we shall see later,
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begins with the response of practical contrivance itself.
But, we may ask ourselves, is not this relation one which objects sustain in virtue of their physical properties and the laws which govern their interaction? Do not all practical inventions in the industrial and social fields depend upon the physical uniformities which determine the behaviour of all natural objects? Have not the triumphs of modern mechanical invention been consequent upon the progress of modern physical science? These questions may confuse us for the moment, but such truth as they contain in no way affects the validity of the statements which have just been made. To be sure the practical intelligence of the mechanical inventor, medical innovator, or social engineer is made more effective by exact information regarding uniformities of physical action, of vital process, and of psycho-physical response.
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But what his imagination works with is the available materials and forces, identified by their characteristic attributes and relations. It will doubtless help him to know about molecular structure, atomic weight, wave-frequency, lines of force, and the like. But what he is directly concerned with is not atoms and ether and electrons and chemical valencies, but materials like wood and steel, aluminum and copper and concrete, and forces like steam and electricity. And what his inventive imagination envisages is not a physico-chemical resultant, but a new object: a machine, remedy, procedure, institution, possessing hitherto unknown and humanly interesting and useful properties of its own. After his experiments have succeeded and his invention is made, after the new object with its distinctive and original properties has been brought into existence, it is possible to trace out the
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uniformities of physical connection on which it has depended. But at no time past or present would the sum-total of scientific knowledge enable anyone who was master of the whole of it to anticipate all the practical discoveries that would be made in his own, not to speak of future, generations. Nor is it conceivable that it ever would. At first such invention is merely a utilizing on the part of some human individual of the different qualities of some one or two materials in the fulfillment of an urgent present need. Thus primitive man fashions a new tool or weapon, or devises a new way of producing a desired result. So the hard and heavy and sharp-edged piece of stone is combined with the light and tough and rigid handle of wood and the result is a stone hammer; or a tomahawk, or a spear. So a new method is devised for influencing the behaviour of fellow-men: a gift that will arouse
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their gratitude or incline their favor, or a glorification of past triumphs which will inflame their pride and arouse them to new undertakings. Such simple inventions are not mere individual adjustments to environment in the biological sense, however. They are adaptations of the properties and forces which the intelligence common to all men recognizes objects to possess. Based upon relations which are generally intelligible, the new methods and instrumentalities are understood as generally efficacious and available. They can be repeated or reproduced by others and do actually associate many individuals in industrial and social activities which have a common interest and significance.
As the scope of practical invention enlarges, a greater variety of materials and forces is utilized, more extended and elaborate methods of operation are employed, and a ,greater and greater number of individuals are
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associated as co-workers in practical enterprise. Lodges and wigwams and houses are built, pottery is manufactured, skins are tamed and cut to pattern and sewed, the metallurgical arts are developed. The family is organized, judicial systems are administered, towns are laid out and built and drained, civic relations are ordered and regulated.
The universal, the objective, import of practical contrivance and invention becomes progressively clearer as social evolution proceeds. Unmistakably it proves itself to be not simply the exercise of ingenuity and cunning on the part of individuals and groups, in order to increase their comfort or minister to their convenience, but rather an effort put forth by the practical intelligence of mankind to utilize all the resources of physical and of human nature in creating new sources of appreciable value, new objects of intelligible
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worth. Its concern is not so much with the satisfaction of pressing subjective needs as with the realization of objective possibilities of new and interesting results in the forces of the physical world. So we see that the supreme interest of modern invention and technology is in the discovery and contrivance of new sources of mechanical power, in the waterfalls, in the tides, in the sun's rays, in the atom itself, power that may be used for any practical purpose whatsoever, and whose release and control signifies a final step in man's effort to unlock the resources and realize the potencies of the natural world. Of course practical invention of this order which has no specific utility but increases man's rational control over the potencies of his physical environment has nevertheless its immediate human value in so far as it implies the co-operative achievement of mankind in
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the discharge of one comprehensive social task.
A third uniformity of relationship among objects in their aspect of value, that of significant harmony, is discovered by the response of aesthetic perception. Aesthetic perception is sense-perception made more vivid, penetrating, and significant by additional responses of imagination, emotion, and motor impulse. Not all objects call forth this response; it is certain, however, that many which do not would do so if our attention were not diverted from their intrinsic qualities by our curiosity as to their meaning or our desire to employ them for some practical purpose. But all objects which we feel to be in any sense or degree beautiful do evoke the response in question. They are for the most part objects of sight and hearing, although odors and perhaps other sense-qualities, in
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addition to form and color and rhythm and tone, contribute to the impression of beauty.
What precisely is the type of relation discovered by this response of aesthetic perception? When an object is appreciated as beautiful its diverse and interrelated qualities, whether of form and color, light and shade, or tone and rhythm, so reinforce and enhance one another that they blend into a more and more intimate and perfect harmony. This harmony is so close and compelling that it cuts the object off from its external surroundings, lifts it completely out of its physical background, and sets it in a new relation. Thus the spectacle of the open sea stretching away beyond the rocky point, its rippling waves sparkling and glowing with the colors of the sunset sky, holds me spellbound: I am not merely oblivious of my immediate surroundings, I am reminded of the persistent features of human life, its ever-changing prospects,
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its challenging hazards, its dark under-currents? its mysterious horizons.
Does this relation seem vague and fanciful and to deserve to be dismissed by a question-begging epithet, such as “mystical” has become in this scientific age? It is revealed in clearest and most convincing way by every object of natural or created beauty, by every bit of landscape, by every bird-song or rose-bud or painting or sculptured figure or musical composition or architectural monument which we appreciate or enjoy as beautiful. Because of the intrinsic harmony of their different qualities these objects signify the essential unity of the real world in some one of its important phases or expressions. And the creation and enjoyment of beauty in its various forms have played too extensive and influential a part in the social life of man to be dismissed as subjective whim or fancy or
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amusement. It would be just as arbitrary and dogmatic to question the real truth and adequacy of scientific conclusions as to deny that poetry or music has any objective import or meaning.
If further light is desired on the nature of the relationship we are discussing, this is supplied by an examination of the responses involved in aesthetic appreciation. The free and harmonious play of perceptual faculties kindles the imagination which, working with similar freedom and spontaneity, supplements the object with a variety of congenial images and ideas and suggestions. The play of perception and imagination is accompanied by an emotional response with a definite bodily resonance. Indeed the emotional response if at all strong is connected with the arousal by the object, of a group of harmonious motor impulses which profoundly modify
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and readjust the bodily attitudes of the subject. We can easily see why such a response as this neither explores the cognitive implications nor brings out the practical potencies of the object. Perception and imagination are too completely absorbed in the object to explore its detailed connections with other objects in the world of understood fact, and the motor tendencies are, through their harmonious adjustment, too completely in equilibrium to initiate any course of action with regard to it. But the response does nevertheless disclose one of the fundamental relationships among objects in their aspect of value. Through its effect upon feeling, imagination, and motor attitude, the object in aesthetic perception suggests by a kind of emotional generalization certain broad features of the real world which arouse the same feeling of inclusive unity and completely fulfilled meaning.
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The beauty of wild flowers growing in the trenches Of Flanders has suggested to many observers as well as to poet and painter the frailty and heroism of human nature, the shortness and the splendour of human life.
