Mr. Hirn argues, in opposition to the Spieltrieb theories of art, that play never develops of itself into art, and that all immediate or secondary emotional manifestations give us no information on artistic manifestations. On the other hand, the instinctive tendency to express overmastering feeling, to enhance pleasure, to seek relief from pain, forms the most deep-seated motive of all human activity. And the fundamental hypothesis of the work is to show that the distinctive qualities of artistic production are derived from this impulse, by proving that art is better able than any other kind of mental function to serve and satisfy the requirements which arise from this impulse. Incidentally the writer does a very important piece of work in showing in some detail that interests which find their characteristic or most striking expression in art were not originally æsthetic but utility interests.
To the possible criticism that his book offers no guidance for the artist in producing works of art, nor for the student in appreciating them, the author claims that his book has simply aimed to give an answer to the question, How did art originate? and it is his opinion that the loss would be greater than the gain if theories of and judgments based on philosophical considerations were allowed to influence either the production or the enjoyment of art.
To the student of sociology Dr. Cunningham is a helpful and suggestive writer, and he works in the modern spirit. While his purpose is to make clear the causes which have coöperated to mold industry and commerce into their present forms, he does not go about his task in a narrow way, but sets before the reader the manifold concrete facts of the entire range of human motive.
The moral authority of the church in mediæval times is shown to have made an important contribution to the conditions of social peace and security which are essential for the establishment of economic progress.
The secularization of political and industrial control in the modern period, and the increase of moral regulation on a new basis, are adequately treated. There is compactness of style without sacrifice of
