ABSTRACT
The aesthetic-hedonistic point of view has been presented in several forms. One of the most ancient conceives the beautiful as that which pleases sight and hearing, that is to say, the so-called higher senses. The theory of play is another form of aesthetic hedonism. The concept of play has sometimes helped towards the realization of the activistic character of the expressive fact: man is not really man, save when he begins to play; and his first game is art. Finally, some have tried to deduce the pleasure of art from the echo of that of the sexual organs. And some of the most recent aestheticians confidently find the genesis of the aesthetic fact in the pleasure of conquering and in that of triumphing, or, as others add, in the wish of the male to conquer the female. This theory is seasoned with much anecdotal erudition, heaven knows of what degree of credibility, as to the customs of savage peoples.
