ABSTRACT
The tension about the relation of beauty to morality in Kant's aesthetics should be obvious. Kant's argument comes in the form of an explanation of the importance of mixed art forms, that is, those which combine what might be thought of as separate media. Beattie draws a conclusion from his position that Kant does not make explicit- namely, that while short poems may please us without also being instructive, longer works, which require longer attention. Beattie is enumerating effects of instructive poetry rather than the typical contents of aesthetic ideas, as Kant did. Normative language is prominent as Beattie continues: Poetry, therefore, that is uninstructive, or immoral, cannot please those who retain any moral sensibility, or uprightness of judgment. Beattie begins his "Essay on Poetry and Music as they Affect the Mind" with a discussion of Horace's claim that the "end" of poetry is "to instruct, as well as to please".
