Spanish born George Santayana (1863-1952), philosopher, literary critic, poet and novelist was one of the leading American thinkers of his time. Reason in Art along with The Sense of Beauty are his works in the field of aesthetics. His writing style is elegant and erudite and requires careful reading, but his ideas and wisdom are well worth the effort. Personally, I enjoyed Reason in Art, having read the book and listened to the audio book multiple times.

When reading Santayana it is well to keep in mind he was a naturalist, that is, someone who sees matter or nature as the principal of existence and life’s ultimate reality. Indeed, the ideas of Darwinism and the science of his day had a profound influence on his thinking. We should also keep in mind Santayana emphasized the psychological dimension of our experience and greatly valued creative imagination in all phases of life.

Reason in Art consists of eleven chapters: 1) The Basis of Art 2) Rationality of Industrial Art 3) Emergence of Fine Arts 4) Music 5) Speech and Significance 6) Poetry and Prose 7) Plastic Construction 8) Plastic Representation 9) Justification of Art 10) The Criterion of Taste, and 11) Art and Happiness. In order to give the reader a sampling of Santayana’s language and reflections on art, below are five quotes from Chapter 10, The Criterion of Taste, along with my comments.

“Dogmatism in matters of taste has the same status as dogmatism in other spheres. It is initially justified by sincerity, being a systematic expression of a man’s preferences; but it becomes absurd when its basis in a particular disposition is ignored and it pretends to have an absolute metaphysical scope.” ---- I recall sitting at the family dinner table, age twelve, and telling my father I didn’t like the taste of liver. My father replied that I didn’t know what was good. How absurd! – thinking one’s personal preference in food is a universal standard. The same thing unfortunately happens all the time in the world of art and music – a number of people continually take their own preferences and individual tastes in art or music to be the gold standard, which can come across as arrogant.

“The very instinct that is satisfied by beauty prefers one beauty to another; and we have only to question and purge our aesthetic feelings in order to obtain the criterion of taste.” ---- The key words here are ‘instinct’ and ‘feelings’. If you want to know what you think is beautiful, ask yourself two questions (these two questions are key to Santayana): 1) What does it look like to you? and 2) How does it move you? I recall viewing the geometrical art of Victor Vasarely as a teenager and wanting to keep looking and looking; I found Vasarely’s lines and circles and shapes so incredibly captivating. I have always been drawn to art that has this type of clarity and simplicity. When I view Vasarely’s art, it looks great and I feel uplifted, thus, for me, his art serves as a kind of standard and criterion of taste.

“Taste is formed in those moments when aesthetic emotion is massive and distinct; preferences then grown conscious, judgements then put into words, will reverberate through calmer hours; they will constitute prejudices, habits of apperception, secret standards for all other beauties.” ---- I grew up by the ocean. When it comes to nature I’ve never had a more satisfying and enjoyable time then when, as a boy, I walked on the sand along the ocean or went for a swim or took my surfboard out for a round of surfing. Santayana would say my boyhood experience will color all of what I experience as an adult. Matter of fact, this is quite true: when I spent a year of college in the mountains of eastern Kentucky I felt claustrophobic.

“Good taste is that taste which is a good possession, a friend to the whole man. It will not suffer him to dote on things, however seductive, which rob him of some nobler companionship.” ---- It is frequently said we should associate with people who lift us up and bring out the best in us. Santayana is advising us to do the same with art.

“The truth is that mere sensation or mere emotion is an indignity to a mature human being.” ---- I recall Irish poet John O’Donohue talking about glamor versus true beauty, how once we receive the initial hit of visual pleasure from something that is glamorous, that is all there is to it. A work of art that is truly beautiful, on the other hand, has a depth, so no matter how many times we return to it, our experience will be enriched. I’ve found this to be true – there are some novels I have reread many times and each rereading proves a richer experience. Same thing holds with my experience of film, photographs, painting and poetry.



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Spanish born George Santayana (1863-1952), philosopher, literary critic, poet and novelist was one of the leading American thinkers of his time. Reason in Art along with The Sense of Beauty are his works in the field of aesthetics. His writing style is elegant and erudite and requires careful reading, but his ideas and wisdom are well worth the effort. Personally, I enjoyed Reason in Art, having read the book and listened to the audio book multiple times.

When reading Santayana it is well to keep in mind he was a naturalist, that is, someone who sees matter or nature as the principal of existence and life’s ultimate reality. Indeed, the ideas of Darwinism and the science of his day had a profound influence on his thinking. We should also keep in mind Santayana emphasized the psychological dimension of our experience and greatly valued creative imagination in all phases of life.

Reason in Art consists of eleven chapters: 1) The Basis of Art 2) Rationality of Industrial Art 3) Emergence of Fine Arts 4) Music 5) Speech and Significance 6) Poetry and Prose 7) Plastic Construction 8) Plastic Representation 9) Justification of Art 10) The Criterion of Taste, and 11) Art and Happiness. In order to give the reader a sampling of Santayana’s language and reflections on art, below are five quotes from Chapter 10, The Criterion of Taste, along with my comments.

“Dogmatism in matters of taste has the same status as dogmatism in other spheres. It is initially justified by sincerity, being a systematic expression of a man’s preferences; but it becomes absurd when its basis in a particular disposition is ignored and it pretends to have an absolute metaphysical scope.” ---- I recall sitting at the family dinner table, age twelve, and telling my father I didn’t like the taste of liver. My father replied that I didn’t know what was good. How absurd! – thinking one’s personal preference in food is a universal standard. The same thing unfortunately happens all the time in the world of art and music – a number of people continually take their own preferences and individual tastes in art or music to be the gold standard, which can come across as arrogant.

“The very instinct that is satisfied by beauty prefers one beauty to another; and we have only to question and purge our aesthetic feelings in order to obtain the criterion of taste.” ---- The key words here are ‘instinct’ and ‘feelings’. If you want to know what you think is beautiful, ask yourself two questions (these two questions are key to Santayana): 1) What does it look like to you? and 2) How does it move you? I recall viewing the geometrical art of Victor Vasarely as a teenager and wanting to keep looking and looking; I found Vasarely’s lines and circles and shapes so incredibly captivating. I have always been drawn to art that has this type of clarity and simplicity. When I view Vasarely’s art, it looks great and I feel uplifted, thus, for me, his art serves as a kind of standard and criterion of taste.

“Taste is formed in those moments when aesthetic emotion is massive and distinct; preferences then grown conscious, judgements then put into words, will reverberate through calmer hours; they will constitute prejudices, habits of apperception, secret standards for all other beauties.” ---- I grew up by the ocean. When it comes to nature I’ve never had a more satisfying and enjoyable time then when, as a boy, I walked on the sand along the ocean or went for a swim or took my surfboard out for a round of surfing. Santayana would say my boyhood experience will color all of what I experience as an adult. Matter of fact, this is quite true: when I spent a year of college in the mountains of eastern Kentucky I felt claustrophobic.

“Good taste is that taste which is a good possession, a friend to the whole man. It will not suffer him to dote on things, however seductive, which rob him of some nobler companionship.” ---- It is frequently said we should associate with people who lift us up and bring out the best in us. Santayana is advising us to do the same with art.

“The truth is that mere sensation or mere emotion is an indignity to a mature human being.” ---- I recall Irish poet John O’Donohue talking about glamor versus true beauty, how once we receive the initial hit of visual pleasure from something that is glamorous, that is all there is to it. A work of art that is truly beautiful, on the other hand, has a depth, so no matter how many times we return to it, our experience will be enriched. I’ve found this to be true – there are some novels I have reread many times and each rereading proves a richer experience. Same thing holds with my experience of film, photographs, painting and poetry.



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