Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo

The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...

beauty; of which the whole charm, accord|ing to him, would thus seem to arise from its falling in with the habits which custom had impressed upon the imagination, with re|gard to things of each particular kind. I cannot, however, be induced to believe that our sense even of external beauty is founded altogether on custom. The utility of any form, its fitness for the useful purposes for which it was intended, evidently recom|mends it, and renders it agreeable to us inde|pendent of custom. Certain colours are more agreeable than others, and give more delight to the eye even the first time it ever beholds them. A smooth surface is more agreeable than a rough one. Variety is more pleasing than a tedious undiversified uniformity. Connected variety, in which each new ap|pearance seems to be introduced by what went before it, and in which all the ad|joining parts seem to have some natural relation to one another, is more agreeable than a disjointed and disorderly assemblage of un|connected objects. But tho' I cannot ad|mit that custom is the sole principle of beauty, yet I can so far allow the truth of this ingenious system as to grant, that there is scarce any one external form so
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Title
The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ...
Author
Smith, Adam, 1723-1790.
Canvas
Page 384
Publication
London :: printed for A. Millar; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh,
1759.

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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001
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"The theory of moral sentiments: By Adam Smith, ..." In the digital collection Eighteenth Century Collection Online Demo. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eccodemo/k111361.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed June 12, 2025.
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