The strong hold which this theory retains in many minds has its value, however, in the emphasis of the fact that æsthetic creation is due to impulses which are born of innate instincts expressing themselves in the production of works of beauty. And if this be so, we see how true it must be that each of us must have in him some measure of this instinct; and that the appearance of its appropriate impulses should not mislead us, and induce us to devote our lives to the worship of the Muses, unless we become convinced that no other work can adequately express the best that is in us.
But the true artist is not troubled by such questionings. He finds himself carried away by what is a true passion; by what is instinctive and not ratiocinative.
The fact that the artist is thus impelled by what may well be called the 'art instinct' is one he could only have learned from the psychologist, or when in introspective mood he became a psychologist himself; and it carries with it corollaries of great value, which the psychologist alone can elucidate.
It teaches the artist, for instance, that his success must be determined by the measure of this instinct which is developed within him; that he must allow himself to be led by this instinct, that his best work will be his 'spontaneous' work. This, of course, is very far from saying that he cannot gain by training; but it does mean that he must learn to treat this training as his tool; that he must not trust over-much to his ratiocinative work, the result of which must be assimilated by, and become part of, his impulsive nature, if he is to be a master.
An artist is one in whom is highly developed the instinct which leads him to create objects that arouse the sense of beauty. The expression of this instinct marks his appropriate functioning. He may incidentally do many useful things, and produce results apart from his special aptitude; but as an artist his work is solely and completely bound up in the production of works of beauty. We naturally ask here what may be the function in life of the expressions of such an instinct as we have been studying, and this leads us to consider a point of more than psychological interest, and turns our thought to our second division
