Whilst man,in his first physical condition,is only passively affected by the world of sense,he is still entirely identified with it;and for this reason the external world,as yet,has no objective existence for him.When he begins in his aesthetic state of mind to regard the world objectively,then only is his personality severed from it,and the world appears to him an objective reality,for the simple reason that he has ceased to form an identical portion of it.
That which first connects man with the surrounding universe is the power of reflective contemplation.Whereas desire seizes at once its object,reflection removes it to a distance and renders it inalienably her own by saving it from the greed of passion.The necessity of sense which he obeyed during the period of mere sensations,lessens during the period of reflection;the senses are for the time in abeyance;even ever-fleeting time stands still whilst the scattered rays of consciousness are gathering and shape themselves;an image of the infinite is reflected upon the perishable ground.As soon as light dawns in man,there is no longer night outside of him;as soon as there is peace within him the storm lulls throughout the universe,and the contending forces of nature find rest within prescribed limits.Hence we cannot wonder if ancient traditions allude to these great changes in the inner man as to a revolution in surrounding nature,and symbolise thought triumphing over the laws of time,by the figure of Zeus,which terminates the reign of Saturn.
As long as man derives sensations from a contact with nature,he is her slave;but as soon as he begins to reflect upon her objects and laws he becomes her lawgiver.Nature,which previously ruled him as a power,now expands before him as an object.What is objective to him can have no power over him,for in order to become objective it has to experience his own power.As far and as long as he impresses a form upon matter,he cannot be injured by its effect;for a spirit can only be injured by that which deprives it of its freedom.Whereas he proves his own freedom by giving a form to the formless;where the mass rules heavily and without shape,and its undefined outlines are for ever fluctuating between uncertain boundaries,fear takes up its abode;but man rises above any natural terror as soon as he knows how to mould it,and transform it into an object of his art.As soon as he upholds his independence toward phaenomenal nature,he maintains his dignity toward her as a thing of power and with a noble freedom he rises against his gods.They throw aside the mask with which they had kept him in awe during his infancy,and to his surprise his mind perceives the reflection of his own image.The divine monster of the Oriental,which roams about changing the world with the blind force of a beast of prey,dwindles to the charming outline of humanity in Greek fable;the empire of the Titans is crushed,and boundless force is tamed by infinite form.
But whilst I have been merely searching for an issue from the material world and a passage into the world of mind,the bold flight on my imagination has already taken me into the very midst of the latter world.The beauty of which we are in search we have left behind by passing from the life of mere sensations to the pure form and to the pure object.Such a leap exceeds the condition of human nature;in order to keep pace with the latter we must return to the world of sense.
Beauty is indeed the sphere of unfettered contemplation and reflection;beauty conducts us into the world of ideas,without however taking us from the world of sense,as occurs when a truth is perceived and acknowledged.
