ABSTRACT
I Whitehead's thought on aesthetics manages to be both profound and vague at the same time. He conveys to his readers the feeling of great urgency and importance attached to the asking of aesthetic questions, and he often disappoints by the sweeping suggestiveness of his answers. There can be no doubt that Whitehead considered the study of aesthetics as still being in its infancy. Perhaps that is why his own contributions are often baffling j we seem to be asked to run before we can properly walk. Sometimes Whitehead's claims appear truly extravagant. "Indeed, when the topic of aesthetics has been sufficiently explored, it is doubtful whether there will be anything left over for discussion." He qualifies this: "But this doubt is unjustified. For the essence of great experience is penetration into the unknown, the unexperienced."! The qualification fails to limit the extravagance of the first statement j it merely refers us to the further extravagance of boundless experience.
