The Psychology of Peoples (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1912 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III HOW THE ARTS ARE TRANSFORMED Application of the principles already set forth to the study of the evolution of the arts among the Oriental peoples--Egypt--The religions ideas from which its arts are derived--Developments that await its arts when they are transplanted amid different races: Ethiopians, Greeks, and Persians--Primitive inferiority of Grecian art--Slowness of its evolution--Adoption and evolution in Persia of Grecian art, Egyptian art, and Assyrian art--The transformations undergone by the arts depend on the race and not on religious beliefs-- Examples supplied by the great transformations undergone by Arabian art according to the races which have adopted Islamism-- Application of our 'principles to the investigation of the origin and evolution of the arts in India--India and Greece went to the same sources, but in consequence of the diversity of the races they developed arts having no relationship--Immense transformations undergone by architecture in India among the different races in spite of the similarity of their beliefs. IN examining the relations between the mental constitution of a people, its institutions, its beliefs, and its language, I have had to confine myself to brief indications. To elucidate such subjects, it would be necessary to pile up volumes. In the case of the arts, a clear and precise statement is infinitely easier. Institutions and beliefs are matters whose definition is doubtful, whose interpretation is obscure. The reality, which changes with every epoch, has to be searched for in the ancient texts in which it lies concealed, and laborious argumentation and criticism must be resorted to in order to arrive at conclusions which, at the finish, are open to discussion. Works of art, and in...