bring us back to a theory of moral obligation, which, as the title suggests, he wishes to free moral theory from. Much of his treatise is dedicated to arguing what moral theory can be based upon that relieves moral theorists from relying on e.g. duty, sanctions, and obligations. For example, The only admissible "equivalents" or "substitutes" of duty, to use the same language as the author of "La Liberté et le Déterminisme" appear to us to be: The consciousness of our inward and superior power, to which we see duty practically reduced. The influence exercised by ideas over actions. The increasing fusion of the sensibilities, and the increasingly social character of our pleasures and sorrows. The love of risk in action, of which we will show the importance hitherto ignored. The love of metaphysical hypothesis, which is a sort of risk of thought. Guyau also took interest in aesthetic theory, particularly its role in society and social evolution. Primarily, Guyau's theories of aesthetics refute Immanuel Kant's idea that aesthetic judgment is disinterested, and accordingly, partitioned off from the faculties of mind responsible for moral judgement. In Les Problèmes de l'esthétique contemporaine, Guyau argues that beauty in fact activates all dimensions of the mind—the sensual, the intellectual, and the moral. Aesthetic sensations are fully integrated with life and morality. They are also the mark of man's self-actualization. Contrary to Herbert Spencer's theory that the development of the arts is an indicator of the decline of society at large, Guyau maintains that as society continues to evolve, life will become increasingly aesthetic. In L'Art au point de vue sociologique, Guyau argues the purpose of art is not to merely produce pleasure, but to create sympathy among members of a society. By extension, he contends that art has the power to reform societies as well as to form them anew. Guyau authored La genèse de l’idée de temps (English translation The Origin of the Idea of Time), a book on the philosophy of time in 1890. Guyau argued that time itself does not exist in the universe but is produced by events that occur, thus time to Guyau was a mental construction from events that take place. He asserted that time is a product of human imagination, memory and will. Influence Although Guyau is now a relatively obscure philosopher, his approach to philosophy earned him much praise from those who knew of him