καλον μὲν
οὖν ἐστιν ὃ
ἂν δ᾽ αὑτὸ
αἱρετὸν ὂν
ἐπαινετὸν ᾖ,
ὃ ἂν ἀγαθὸν
ὂν ἡδὺ ᾖ ὅτι
ἀγαθόν. Arist.,
Rhet. i. 9.
cf. E. Burke (On the
Sublime and Beautiful, iii. § 6): “It is true that
the infinitely wise and good creator has, of his bounty, frequently
joined beauty to those things which he has made useful to us. But
this does not prove that our idea of use and beauty are the same thing,
or that they are in any way dependent on each other.” Dr.
Johnson instances a painting on a coffee-cup as beautiful, but not
useful. “Boswell,” Ann. 1772. St. Basil’s
idea is in accord with that of Ruskin (Mod. P. chap. vi.).
“In all high ideas of beauty it is more than probable that much
of the pleasure depends on delicate and untraceable perception of
fitness, propriety, and relation, which are purely intellectual, and
through which we arrive at our noblest ideas of what is commonly and
rightly called ‘intellectual
beauty.’”