In the case of a work of art, there is no relation of parts to an environment, but only of parts to parts within a whole. The foot of the statue rests, not on the ground, but on a pedestal; and while its eyes may be said to see, there is nothing for them to see, and if its mouth may be said to speak, there is no one to listen to what is said. Spencer defined life as a continual adjustment of inner relations to outer relations; and he might have defined a machine in much the same way. In a work of art, however, there are internal relations only; a part refers to other parts, within the whole, in accordance with the idea that is expressed there, but doestornot refer to anything outside itself. It is a microcosm, a self-sufficient little word of embodied, interrelated meanings, in need of nothing to give it life and significance, save only the mind of the spectator.
One might hope to make out a better case for the uniqueness of aesthetic form in regard to what I have been calling intrinsic form. This type type of form is significant in complete independence of meanings. Absolute music is the best example, for there all there all form is interfrinsic form. The rhythmic and harmonic structure ofmusic is effective and intelligible wholly by itself; we under