ABSTRACT
§1. Psychological æstheticians appropriately commend us to the empirical rather than the a priori method of substantiating our hypotheses. But here the only data we can directly experience are those of our own minds; reports by other people of theirs are even more apt to be misleading. It might therefore be useful, in substantiating what has been said in the previous chapters, to attempt a candid autobiography of some crucial æsthetic experiences. This is not criticism in the dignified manner as a work of literary art, nor is it aimed at æsthetic propaganda or the justification of personal preferences; it is an apologetic attempt to explain, so far as possible, the ground for such of my tastes as I am persuaded are genuine, in the belief that analogous grounds exist, mutatis mutandis, for the different preferences of others. I make no pretence to fine taste but only to strong affections, and my blind spots will be just as instructive as my enthusiasms.
