The name is absent

The Breviary of Aesthetic 23
worlds, conceives the concept as judgment, and the judgment
as synthesis a priori, and the synthesis a priori as the word
become flesh, as history. Thus that definition of art leads
the fancy back to logic and art to philosophy, contrary to
intention; and is at most valid for the abstract conception of
science, not for the problem of art (the æsthetie and teleo-
logical “Critique of Judgment” of Kant had precisely this
historical function of correcting what of abstract there yet
remained in the “Critique of Pure Reason”). To seek a
sensible element for the concept, beyond that which it has
already absorbed in itself as concrete concept, and beyond
the words in which it expresses itself, would be superfluous.
If we persist in this search, it is true that we abandon the
conception of art as philosophy or history, but only to pass
to the conception of art as allegory. And the unsurmounta-
ble difficulties of the allegory are well known, as its frigid
and anti-historical character is known and universally felt.
Allegory is the extrinsic union, the conventional and arbi-
trary juxtaposition of two spiritual acts, a concept or thought
and an image, where it is assumed that this image must
represent that concept. And not only is the individual char-
acter of the artistic image not explained by this, but, in addi-
tion, a duality is purposely created, because thought remains
thought and image image in this juxtaposition, without rela-
tion between themselves; so much so, that in contemplating
the image, we forget the concept without any disadvantage,
—indeed, with advantage,—and in thinking the concept, we
dissipate, also with advantage, the superfluous and tiresome
image. Allegory enjoyed much favour in the Middle Ages,
that mixture of Germanism and Romanism, of barbarism
and culture, of bold fancy and of acute reflection; but it was
the theoretic element in and not the effective reality of, the

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