 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
The romantic movement is characterized, as a whole, by the substitution of aesthetic, for utilitarian standards. The earth-worm is useful, but not beautiful; the tiger is beautiful, but not useful. Darwin (who was not a romantic) praised the earth-worm; Blake praised the tiger. The morals of the romantics have primarily aesthetic motives. But in order to characterize the romantics, it is necessary to take account, not only of the importance of aesthetic motives, but also of the change of taste which made their sense of beauty different from that of their predecessors.
Source: A History of Western Philosophy, 1945.
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