The neglected programme of aesthetics
British Journal of Aesthetics 42 (4):403-414 (2002)
| Abstract | Aesthetics is today widely seen as the philosophy of art and/or beauty, limited to artworks and their perception. In this paper, I will argue that today's aesthetics and the original programme developed by the German Enlightenment thinker Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten in the first half of the eighteenth century have only the name in common. Baumgarten did not primarily develop his aesthetics as a philosophy of art. The making and understanding of artworks had served in his original programme only as an example for the application of his philosophy. What he really attempts to present is an alternative philosophy of knowledge that goes beyond the purely rationalist, empiricist, and sensualist approaches. In short, Baumgarten transcends the old opposition between rationalism and sensualism. His core theme is the improvement (perfectio) of human knowledge and cognition and the ways to reach this goal. The study of Baumgarten's foundational works on aesthetics should not be undertaken merely out of antiquarian interest. I will argue, instead, that Baumgarten's importance and contemporary relevance lies in this: that his Aesthetica may serve as a profound contribution to the philosophy of the cultural sciences and humanities. Revisiting Baumgarten's original idea of aesthetics will lead us to a more inclusive concept of that philosophical discipline. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,653 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesAlexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1735/1954). Reflections on Poetry. Berkeley, University of California Press.
Nicholas Davey (1989). Baumgarten's Aesthetics: A Post-Gadamerian Reflection. British Journal of Aesthetics 29 (2):101-115.
Rudolf A. Makkreel (1996). The Confluence of Aesthetics and Hermeneutics in Baumgarten, Meier, and Kant. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 54 (1):65-75.
Morten Kyndrup (2010). Aesthetics and its Future. Problems and Perspectives. Nordic Journal of Aesthetics 21.
Kai Hammermeister (2002). The German Aesthetic Tradition. Cambridge University Press.
Leonard P. Wessell Jr (1972). Alexander Baumgarten's Contribution to the Development of Aesthetics. Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 30 (3):333-342.
Leyla Haferkamp (2010). Analogon Rationis: Baumgarten, Deleuze and the 'Becoming Girl' of Philosophy. Deleuze Studies 4 (1):62-69.
Tomáš Hlobil (2009). Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten: Ästhetik. Estetika 46 (1).
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads30 ( #40,791 of 548,984 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,327 of 548,984 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
