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Abstract
Kant’s thesis of disinterestedness (TD), as put forward in § 2 of the Critique of Judgment, functions as his entry into the realm of beauty. I aim to show that TD has a complex meaning which can be unfolded on several levels. To get a proper theoretical grasp on this thesis one needs to take into account the notions of the free play of the faculties, form and purposiveness without a purpose. But since these notions are only available much later after disinterestedness has been introduced, and moreover, since these notions are only derived from TD, I will argue that there must be a more intuitive grasp on TD. This grasp is phenomenological: the pleasure in the beautiful feels disinterested, that is, detached from any desiring.
