Of the false opinion that beauty results from custom. Compare Chap. vi. § 1

Somewhat more rational grounds appear for the assertion that the sense of the beautiful arises from familiarity with the object, though eventhis could not long be maintained by a thinking person. For all that can be alleged in defence of such a supposition is, that familiarity deprives some objects which at first appeared ugly, of much of their repulsiveness, whence it is as rational to conclude that familiarity is the cause of beauty, as it would be to argue that because it is possible to acquire a taste for olives, therefore custom is the cause of lusciousness in grapes. Nevertheless, there are some phenomena resulting from the tendency of our nature to be influenced by habit of which it may be well to observe the limits. art oil painting