In defense of Santayana's theory of expression

pp. 84-90

in: Andrew J. Reck, Harold N. Lee, Louise N. Roberts, James K. Feibleman, Edward Ballard, Studies in recent philosophy, Berlin, Springer, 1963

Abstract

Some may consider the history of American philosophy too brief for any classics to be acclaimed within it with assurance. Perhaps such classifications should be reserved for certain venerable works produced in some historic age of reason. Within the relatively new field of aesthetics, however, George Santayana's first philosophical book, The Sense of Beauty, has become a classic work. Although it focuses upon "beauty," an honorific term which has proved to be a bete noir for analysis, it contains a provocative interpretation of aesthetic experience. Santayana's rich prose is filled with challenging insights which have yielded various more "exact" reformulations.