III

ART AND ETHICS


Between me and the pleasant places of history remains, however, one ugly
barrier. I cannot dabble and paddle in the pools and shallows of the
past until I have answered a question so absurd that the nicest people
never tire of asking it: "What is the moral justification of art?" Of
course they are right who insist that the creation of art must be
justified on ethical grounds: all human activities must be so justified.
It is the philosopher's privilege to call upon the artist to show that
what he is about is either good in itself or a means to good. It is the
artist's duty to reply: "Art is good because it exalts to a state of
ecstasy better far than anything a benumbed moralist can even guess at;
so shut up." Philosophically he is quite right; only, philosophy is not
so simple as that. Let us try to answer philosophically.

The moralist inquires whether art is either good in itself or a means
to good. Before answering, we will ask what he means by the word "good,"
not because it is in the least doubtful, but to make him think. In fact,
Mr. G.E. Moore has shown pretty conclusively in his _Principia Ethica_
that by "good" everyone means just good. We all know quite well what we
mean though we cannot define it. "Good" can no more be defined than
"Red": no quality can be defined. Nevertheless we know perfectly well
what we mean when we say that a thing is "good" or "red." This is so
obviously true that its statement has greatly disconcerted, not to say
enraged, the orthodox philosophers.

Orthodox philosophers are by no means agreed as to what we do mean by