Frederick C. Beiser
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199573011
- eISBN:
- 9780191722202
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573011.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, History of Philosophy
This book is a re-examination of the rationalist tradition of aesthetics which prevailed in Germany in the late 17th and 18th century. It is partly an historical survey of the central ...
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This book is a re-examination of the rationalist tradition of aesthetics which prevailed in Germany in the late 17th and 18th century. It is partly an historical survey of the central figures and themes of this tradition, but it is also a philosophical defence of some of its leading ideas such as: that beauty plays an integral role in life; that aesthetic pleasure is the perception of perfection; and that aesthetic rules are inevitable and valuable. It shows that the criticisms of Kant and Nietzsche of this tradition are largely unfounded. The rationalist tradition deserves re-examination because it is of great historical significance, marking the beginning of modern aesthetics, art criticism, and art history.
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This book is a re-examination of the rationalist tradition of aesthetics which prevailed in Germany in the late 17th and 18th century. It is partly an historical survey of the central figures and themes of this tradition, but it is also a philosophical defence of some of its leading ideas such as: that beauty plays an integral role in life; that aesthetic pleasure is the perception of perfection; and that aesthetic rules are inevitable and valuable. It shows that the criticisms of Kant and Nietzsche of this tradition are largely unfounded. The rationalist tradition deserves re-examination because it is of great historical significance, marking the beginning of modern aesthetics, art criticism, and art history.
Paul Crowther
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579976
- eISBN:
- 9780191722615
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579976.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, History of Philosophy
This book explains the perceptual knowledge involved in aesthetic judgements. It does so by linking Kant's aesthetics to a critically upgraded account of his theory of knowledge. This ...
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This book explains the perceptual knowledge involved in aesthetic judgements. It does so by linking Kant's aesthetics to a critically upgraded account of his theory of knowledge. This upgraded theory emphasizes conceptual and imaginative structures, which Kant terms respectively, ‘categories’ and ‘schemata’. By describing examples of aesthetic judgement, it is shown that these judgements must involve categories and fundamental schemata (even though Kant himself, and most other commentators, have not fully appreciated the fact). It is argued, in turn, that this shows the aesthetic to be not just one kind of pleasurable experience amongst others, but one based on factors necessary to objective knowledge and personal identity, and one, indeed, which plays a role in how these capacities develop. The explanation of how individual aesthetic judgements claim universal validity, and the aesthetic basis of art, however, requires that the Kantian position is developed further. This is done by exploring his ideas concerning critical comparisons in the cultivation of taste, and art's relation to aesthetic ideas and genius. By linking earlier points to a more developed account of comparative critical factors, the Kantian approach offers a satisfying and comprehensive explanation of aesthetic experience and fine art. It is shown to also encompass some kinds of avant-garde work that were previously thought to limit its relevance.
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This book explains the perceptual knowledge involved in aesthetic judgements. It does so by linking Kant's aesthetics to a critically upgraded account of his theory of knowledge. This upgraded theory emphasizes conceptual and imaginative structures, which Kant terms respectively, ‘categories’ and ‘schemata’. By describing examples of aesthetic judgement, it is shown that these judgements must involve categories and fundamental schemata (even though Kant himself, and most other commentators, have not fully appreciated the fact). It is argued, in turn, that this shows the aesthetic to be not just one kind of pleasurable experience amongst others, but one based on factors necessary to objective knowledge and personal identity, and one, indeed, which plays a role in how these capacities develop. The explanation of how individual aesthetic judgements claim universal validity, and the aesthetic basis of art, however, requires that the Kantian position is developed further. This is done by exploring his ideas concerning critical comparisons in the cultivation of taste, and art's relation to aesthetic ideas and genius. By linking earlier points to a more developed account of comparative critical factors, the Kantian approach offers a satisfying and comprehensive explanation of aesthetic experience and fine art. It is shown to also encompass some kinds of avant-garde work that were previously thought to limit its relevance.
Stephen Mulhall
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198238508
- eISBN:
- 9780191679643
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198238508.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy, Aesthetics
The author of the book presents a full-length philosophical study of the work of
Stanley Cavell, best known for his highly influential contributions to the fields of
film studies, ...
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The author of the book presents a full-length philosophical study of the work of
Stanley Cavell, best known for his highly influential contributions to the fields of
film studies, Shakespearian literary criticism, and the confluence of psychoanalysis
and literary theory. It is not properly appreciated that Cavell's project originated
in his interpretation of Austin's and Wittgenstein's philosophical interest in the
criteria governing ordinary language, and is given unity by an abiding concern with
the nature and the varying cultural manifestations of the sceptical impulse in
modernity. This book elucidates the essentially philosophical roots and trajectory
of Cavell's work, traces its links with Romanticism and its recent turn towards a
species of moral pefectionism associated with Thoreau and Emerson, and concludes
with an assessment of its relations to liberal-democratic political theory,
Christian religious thought, and feminist literary studies.
Less
The author of the book presents a full-length philosophical study of the work of
Stanley Cavell, best known for his highly influential contributions to the fields of
film studies, Shakespearian literary criticism, and the confluence of psychoanalysis
and literary theory. It is not properly appreciated that Cavell's project originated
in his interpretation of Austin's and Wittgenstein's philosophical interest in the
criteria governing ordinary language, and is given unity by an abiding concern with
the nature and the varying cultural manifestations of the sceptical impulse in
modernity. This book elucidates the essentially philosophical roots and trajectory
of Cavell's work, traces its links with Romanticism and its recent turn towards a
species of moral pefectionism associated with Thoreau and Emerson, and concludes
with an assessment of its relations to liberal-democratic political theory,
Christian religious thought, and feminist literary studies.
