Elements of Criticism - Hardcover

by Henry Home Lord Kames (Author), Mint Editions (Contribution by)

Elements of Criticism (1762) is a philosophical work by Henry Home, Lord Kames. Published at the height of his career as a leading legal and cultural figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, Elements of Criticism has been credited as a crucial academic work in the development of modern English literary studies. "The science of criticism tends to improve the heart not less than the understanding...A just taste in the fine arts, by sweetening and harmonizing the temper, is a strong antidote to the turbulence of passion and violence of pursuit. Elegance of taste procures to a man so much enjoyment at home, or easily within reach, that in order to be occupied, he is, in youth, under no temptation to precipitate into hunting, gaming, drinking; nor, in middle age, to deliver himself over to ambition; nor, in old age, to avarice." Although he is largely unheard of today, Henry Home was an integral figure in the elevation of the art of literary criticism as a subject in universities around Britain and the world. His central thesis is that criticism itself stems from the senses and directly relates to humanity's capacity for reason. Through art, Home believed, humanity could live both morally and in harmony with the natural world, thereby creating a civilization rooted in virtue and creativity. This edition of Henry Home, Lord Kames' Elements of Criticism is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Back Jacket

Despite receiving little formal education, Henry Home became a leading intellectual of the Scottish Enlightenment and successful businessman. In his Elements of Criticism, he lays the foundation for the modern academic discipline of English literature with his captivating argument that the arts have a function in the moral and intellectual development of humanity.