The Sigh

Zusammenfassung

In his book Expression of the Emotions of Man and Animals, Darwin praises Charles Bell, “so illustrious for his discoveries in physiology”, as the one who “may with justice be said not only to have laid the foundations of the subject as a brandi of science, but to have built up a noble structure”. Darwin was referring to Bell’s essays on the Anatomy and Philosophy of Expression as Connected with the Fine Arts, published in 1806. Both authors, although sharply at variance in their theories, agreed in their estimation of expression as a subject for research. Fascinated by the phenomena and surprised by the problems involved, their interest in the matter never faltered. Bell, who had started the composition of his book on expression “before”, as he said, “the serious pursuits of life began”, published the first edition at the age of thirty-six. This publication marked only the beginning of a long period of renewed and intensified studies. In 1840, two years before his death, Bell, then a septuagenarian, visited the Continent. He went to Italy with the intention of verifying his principles of criticism of art for a revised edition which he was preparing. In the preface to this third edition, published one year after the author’s death, Joseph G. Bell says about his brother: “It was from these investigations that he was first led to make those discoveries in the system of nerves which are now acknowledged to be the most important contributions of modern times to the science of physiology.”

Tijdschrift voor Philosophie, 14e Jaargang, Nr. 4, 1952.

Presented to the members of a “seminar-day”, held at the Veterans Administration Hospital, Lexington, Kentucky, on February 8, 1952.