Aesthetica scripsit Alexand.Gottlieb Bavmgarten. By Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten. Download 1 file. 1 Baumgarten,Mendelssohn 3 2 Kant 21 3 Schiller 42 4 Schelling 62 5 Hegel 87. Garten’s aesthetics must not be regarded as an intentional break.
Recent papers in Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten
- by alexandre antunes
- •
- 2
Like cognition, the language in which the cognition finds expression has, in principle, a function of synthesis, that is, a function of connecting the cognizing subject with the object of cognition. The language enables the human subject... more
Like cognition, the language in which the cognition finds expression has, in principle, a function of synthesis, that is, a function of connecting the cognizing subject with the object of cognition. The language enables the human subject to have epistemic access to the object; in its form and function this epistemic access constitutes the necessary referentiality of the language itself. Cognition must inevitably refer to the object of knowledge in the mode of pre-linguisticsensory and abstract-conceptual accesses, as clearly highlighted by Kant in his basic notion of the synthetic nature and structure of conceptual knowledge. This points to an aporetic ambiguity of the epistemic referentiality of language. In the process of cognition the subject should have an epistemic access to the particular. However, the conceptual cognition departs from the particular and is directed to a general universal idea. The ambiguity between the referential access and the referential departure in cognition necessarily requires a supplementation of the abstractlogical through the pre-linguistic-sensory or aesthetic knowledge, as emphasized by Alexander G. Baumgarten in his doctrine of sensory cognition (cognitio sensitiva) and the aesthetic-logical truth. Such a supplementation within the framework of a theory of perception seems to establish a unique form of epistemological reference, in which the subjective-epistemic access to the particular object does not terminate in the ontological finality of a concept or conceptual cognition, but transcends the cognition into the infinity of an aesthetic perception.
Al igual que la cognición, el lenguaje en el que se expresa la cognición tiene en principio una función de la síntesis, es decir, una función de conectar el sujeto conocedor con el objeto de la cognición. El lenguaje permite al sujeto humano tener acceso epistémico al objeto, que en su forma y función constituye la referencialidad necesaria del lenguaje mismo. La cognición debe referirse inevitablemente al objeto de conocimiento en el modo de accesos pre-lingüístico-sensoriales y abstracto-conceptuales, como lo destaca claramente Kant en su noción básica de la naturaleza sintética y la estructura del conocimiento conceptual. Esto apunta a una ambigüedad aporética de la referencialidad epistémica del lenguaje. En el proceso de cognición, el sujeto debe tener un acceso epistémico a lo particular. Sin embargo, la cognición conceptual se aparta de lo particular y se dirige a una idea universal general. La ambigüedad entre el acceso referencial y la salida referencial en la cognición requiere una suplementación necesaria de lo abstracto-lógico a través del conocimiento pre-lingüístico-sensorial o estético, como destaca Alexander G. Baumgarten en su doctrina de la cognición sensorial (cognitio sensitiva) y de la verdad estética-lógica. Tal suplementación dentro del marco de una teoría de la percepción parece establecer una forma única de referencia epistemológica, en la que el acceso epistémico-subjetivo al objeto particular no termina en la finalidad ontológica de un concepto o cognición conceptual, sino que trasciende la cognición al infinito de una percepción estética. Palabras clave Aporía de la lengua, acceso epistémico, referencialidad de la cognición, cognoscibilidad, existencia, individuación lingüística.
Al igual que la cognición, el lenguaje en el que se expresa la cognición tiene en principio una función de la síntesis, es decir, una función de conectar el sujeto conocedor con el objeto de la cognición. El lenguaje permite al sujeto humano tener acceso epistémico al objeto, que en su forma y función constituye la referencialidad necesaria del lenguaje mismo. La cognición debe referirse inevitablemente al objeto de conocimiento en el modo de accesos pre-lingüístico-sensoriales y abstracto-conceptuales, como lo destaca claramente Kant en su noción básica de la naturaleza sintética y la estructura del conocimiento conceptual. Esto apunta a una ambigüedad aporética de la referencialidad epistémica del lenguaje. En el proceso de cognición, el sujeto debe tener un acceso epistémico a lo particular. Sin embargo, la cognición conceptual se aparta de lo particular y se dirige a una idea universal general. La ambigüedad entre el acceso referencial y la salida referencial en la cognición requiere una suplementación necesaria de lo abstracto-lógico a través del conocimiento pre-lingüístico-sensorial o estético, como destaca Alexander G. Baumgarten en su doctrina de la cognición sensorial (cognitio sensitiva) y de la verdad estética-lógica. Tal suplementación dentro del marco de una teoría de la percepción parece establecer una forma única de referencia epistemológica, en la que el acceso epistémico-subjetivo al objeto particular no termina en la finalidad ontológica de un concepto o cognición conceptual, sino que trasciende la cognición al infinito de una percepción estética. Palabras clave Aporía de la lengua, acceso epistémico, referencialidad de la cognición, cognoscibilidad, existencia, individuación lingüística.
- by Babu Thaliath
- •
From John Noyes' 'Introduction' to the book, Herder's essay on being: In “Herder’s Kantian Critique of Kant on the Concept of Being,” his examination of Herder’s epistemological foundations in the Essay on Being, Nigel DeSouza reads... more
From John Noyes' 'Introduction' to the book, Herder's essay on being:
In “Herder’s Kantian Critique of Kant on the Concept of Being,” his examination of Herder’s epistemological foundations in the Essay on Being, Nigel DeSouza reads Herder’s first philosophical piece as a clarion
call to philosophers to a new way of understanding human nature, laying out the epistemological foundation of his early philosophical anthropol- ogy. First, DeSouza demonstrates how Herder, drawing on the cutting-edge insights of his mentor, Kant, as well as Crusius, formulates the first of several of his critiques from the 1760s of the rationalist Schulphilosophie of Wolff and Baumgarten, in which philosophy is straitjacketed into a top-down conception of knowledge, whose object is clear and distinct concepts and the logical order among them. DeSouza then turns to the positive ideas that emerge from this critique, and the role they play in his early philosophical anthropology. The objective is to illustrate how the central epistemological idea of the Essay on Being—that human nature, by virtue of its limits, has a bottom-up mode of knowledge that is grounded in the senses—connects with the young Herder’s metaphysical convictions about the soul-body relationship, especially his belief in soul-body interaction, as worked out in other writings from the 1760s. The emphasis throughout is on the striking originality of Herder’s particular conception of a holistic understanding of human nature.
In “Herder’s Kantian Critique of Kant on the Concept of Being,” his examination of Herder’s epistemological foundations in the Essay on Being, Nigel DeSouza reads Herder’s first philosophical piece as a clarion
call to philosophers to a new way of understanding human nature, laying out the epistemological foundation of his early philosophical anthropol- ogy. First, DeSouza demonstrates how Herder, drawing on the cutting-edge insights of his mentor, Kant, as well as Crusius, formulates the first of several of his critiques from the 1760s of the rationalist Schulphilosophie of Wolff and Baumgarten, in which philosophy is straitjacketed into a top-down conception of knowledge, whose object is clear and distinct concepts and the logical order among them. DeSouza then turns to the positive ideas that emerge from this critique, and the role they play in his early philosophical anthropology. The objective is to illustrate how the central epistemological idea of the Essay on Being—that human nature, by virtue of its limits, has a bottom-up mode of knowledge that is grounded in the senses—connects with the young Herder’s metaphysical convictions about the soul-body relationship, especially his belief in soul-body interaction, as worked out in other writings from the 1760s. The emphasis throughout is on the striking originality of Herder’s particular conception of a holistic understanding of human nature.
- by Nigel DeSouza
- •
Gualtiero Lorini’s book proposes a detailed and well-argued reconstruction of the occurrences of the term “ontology” in all of Kant’s works, especially in the transcripts related to his lectures on metaphysics. He considers many of the... more
Gualtiero Lorini’s book proposes a detailed and well-argued reconstruction of the
occurrences of the term “ontology” in all of Kant’s works, especially in the transcripts
related to his lectures on metaphysics. He considers many of the Kantian
documents that are preserved today while negating the Doppelleben hypothesis,
according to which Kant expressed himself one way in the works published for
his fellow members of the République des lettres and another way in the various
materials for his students (20). Not true, shows Lorini, whose approach is rigorously
lexical, based on the lexical analysis of cultural terminology that originated
in the “unit ideas” formulated by Arthur J. Lovejoy in the famous opening essay of
the Journal of the History of Ideas that fully blossomed in Tullio Gregory’s Lessico
intellettuale europeo (1964 ff.) and, more specifically related to Kant, in Norbert
Hinske’s Kant-Index (1982 ff.), according to which the meaning of a word is not
given by any superimposed definition but finds its own definition in occurrence after occurrence.
occurrences of the term “ontology” in all of Kant’s works, especially in the transcripts
related to his lectures on metaphysics. He considers many of the Kantian
documents that are preserved today while negating the Doppelleben hypothesis,
according to which Kant expressed himself one way in the works published for
his fellow members of the République des lettres and another way in the various
materials for his students (20). Not true, shows Lorini, whose approach is rigorously
lexical, based on the lexical analysis of cultural terminology that originated
in the “unit ideas” formulated by Arthur J. Lovejoy in the famous opening essay of
the Journal of the History of Ideas that fully blossomed in Tullio Gregory’s Lessico
intellettuale europeo (1964 ff.) and, more specifically related to Kant, in Norbert
Hinske’s Kant-Index (1982 ff.), according to which the meaning of a word is not
given by any superimposed definition but finds its own definition in occurrence after occurrence.
- by Gualtiero Lorini
- •
- by Alessandro Nannini
- •
- by Stefan Färber
- •
- 13
EDITION 19-2 Anfangsgründe der praktischen Metaphysik : Vorlesung ; Lateinisch-Deutsch = [Initia philosophiae practicae primae acro-amatice] / Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten. Übers. und hrsg. von Alexander Aichele.-Hamburg : Meiner,... more
EDITION 19-2 Anfangsgründe der praktischen Metaphysik : Vorlesung ; Lateinisch-Deutsch = [Initia philosophiae practicae primae acro-amatice] / Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten. Übers. und hrsg. von Alexander Aichele.-Hamburg : Meiner, 2019.-LXVIII, 354 S. ; 20 cm.-(Philosophische Bibliothek ; 709).-ISBN 978-3-7873-3182-6 : EUR 68.00 [#6427] Der Philosoph Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714-1762) gehört zu den wichtigen Autoren des 18. Jahrhunderts, die ihre Schriften noch in lateini-scher Sprache abfaßten. 1 Am berühmtesten ist seine Schrift über die Äs-thetik, die ebenfalls bei Meiner in einer soliden Ausgabe vorliegt. 2 Baumgarten gehört wegen seiner Studien-und ersten Dozentenzeit in Halle in den Umkreis der mitteldeutschen Aufklärung. 3 Auch studierte er durch 1 Themenschwerpunkt: Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten : sinnliche Erkenntnis in der Philosophie des Rationalismus / hrsg. von Alexander Aichele und Dagmar Mirbach.
- by Till Kinzel
- •
Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714-62) is best known for his use of the name ‘aesthetics’ to designate a field of study that has remained an important part of philosophy ever since. Integral to Baumgartian aesthetics is the idea of... more
Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714-62) is best known for his use of the name ‘aesthetics’ to designate a field of study that has remained an important part of philosophy ever since. Integral to Baumgartian aesthetics is the idea of beauty, and the term appears frequently in the Aesthetica from the opening paragraph onwards. Defined as the ‘science of sensible cognition’, aesthetics involves among other things the ‘art of thinking beautifully’. But what does it mean to think beautifully?
The position I adopt in this paper is that the relation of beauty to thought lies at the core of Baumgarten’s project, and that the elucidation of what is at stake here is crucial to any assessment of the ongoing relevance of his work. Some would argue that Kant’s third Critique has rendered any rationalist explanation of taste obsolete, and the prevalence of this view no doubt accounts for the fact that the Aesthetica remains untranslated into English. Others have sought to question subjectivity as the absolute ground of aesthetic judgement and see the reexamination of the pre-Kantian corpus as a potential corrective. I’ll be drawing on the early stages of a translation of the Aesthetica that I am currently undertaking to show that ‘thinking beautifully’ for Baumgarten involves subjective as well as objective processes and that Kant’s dismissal of his ‘futile’ attempt to provide a rational explanation of the basis of taste is overly harsh.
The position I adopt in this paper is that the relation of beauty to thought lies at the core of Baumgarten’s project, and that the elucidation of what is at stake here is crucial to any assessment of the ongoing relevance of his work. Some would argue that Kant’s third Critique has rendered any rationalist explanation of taste obsolete, and the prevalence of this view no doubt accounts for the fact that the Aesthetica remains untranslated into English. Others have sought to question subjectivity as the absolute ground of aesthetic judgement and see the reexamination of the pre-Kantian corpus as a potential corrective. I’ll be drawing on the early stages of a translation of the Aesthetica that I am currently undertaking to show that ‘thinking beautifully’ for Baumgarten involves subjective as well as objective processes and that Kant’s dismissal of his ‘futile’ attempt to provide a rational explanation of the basis of taste is overly harsh.
- by Chris van Rompaey
- •
Just as Alexander Baumgarten is often credited with having established the modern discipline of aesthetics, Johann Winckelmann is said to have laid the foundations of art history. It’s notable that both were at the University of Halle in... more
Just as Alexander Baumgarten is often credited with having established the modern discipline of aesthetics, Johann Winckelmann is said to have laid the foundations of art history. It’s notable that both were at the University of Halle in the late 1730s, Winckelmann as a theological student and Baumgarten in his first academic appointment as Professor of Philosophy. The question of the latter’s possible influence on his younger contemporary would thus seem worth asking. In its account of a possible link, however, the secondary literature is surprisingly inconclusive. Many studies of Winckelmann don’t mention Baumgarten’s name. And while some commentators have no doubts that there was a connection, others have pointedly rejected the possibility. The paper takes a critical look at the arguments both for and against a link, drawing on textual and other evidence to formulate what emerges as the most credible position.
- by Chris van Rompaey
- •
Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit Baumgartens Versuch, rhetorische Figuren außerhalb der redenden Kunst anzuwenden. Dadurch soll Baumgarten als Wegbereiter einer Theorie der „visuellen Figur“ dargestellt werden, obwohl man bisher... more
Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit Baumgartens Versuch, rhetorische Figuren außerhalb der redenden Kunst anzuwenden. Dadurch soll Baumgarten als Wegbereiter einer Theorie der „visuellen Figur“ dargestellt werden, obwohl man bisher annahm, dass eine solche erst in der gegenwärtigen Rhetorik entwickelt worden ist.
Baumgartens Begriff der „Figur in der Bezeichnung“ wird nicht auf Sprache eingeschränkt, sondern ist in Bezug auf Bild und Ton erweitert. In der Nachschrift zu seinem Kollegium über die Ästhetik macht er fragmentarische Bemerkungen zur Figur in der Malerei. Durch die Analyse dieses Textes wurde Folgendes expliziert: „Synonymie“ deutet Baumgarten in der Malerei als die Ausdrucksmethode, einen Gegenstand mit ähnlichen Farben zu malen. Er hat, inspiriert von A. v. Hallers Gedicht Morgen-Gedanken, dabei ein Gemälde mit der Darstellung des Morgenrots vor Augen. „Ellipse“ deutet er dagegen als die Ausdrucksmethode, eines von ähnlichen Bildern auszulassen. Als Beispiel greift er einen Topos aus Timanthes‘ Gemälde Die Opferung der Iphigenie auf. Als Ergebnis der Analyse steht die Einsicht, dass Baumgarten durch eine solche Modifikation der rhetorischen Figur eine konkrete Methode entwickelt, die Rhetorik auf andere Gattungen zu übertragen.
Baumgartens Begriff der „Figur in der Bezeichnung“ wird nicht auf Sprache eingeschränkt, sondern ist in Bezug auf Bild und Ton erweitert. In der Nachschrift zu seinem Kollegium über die Ästhetik macht er fragmentarische Bemerkungen zur Figur in der Malerei. Durch die Analyse dieses Textes wurde Folgendes expliziert: „Synonymie“ deutet Baumgarten in der Malerei als die Ausdrucksmethode, einen Gegenstand mit ähnlichen Farben zu malen. Er hat, inspiriert von A. v. Hallers Gedicht Morgen-Gedanken, dabei ein Gemälde mit der Darstellung des Morgenrots vor Augen. „Ellipse“ deutet er dagegen als die Ausdrucksmethode, eines von ähnlichen Bildern auszulassen. Als Beispiel greift er einen Topos aus Timanthes‘ Gemälde Die Opferung der Iphigenie auf. Als Ergebnis der Analyse steht die Einsicht, dass Baumgarten durch eine solche Modifikation der rhetorischen Figur eine konkrete Methode entwickelt, die Rhetorik auf andere Gattungen zu übertragen.
- by Yoko IOKU
- •
Ao longo do século XX, a arte esteve subssumida a um debate de posições extremas. Ora sob a égide da autonomização, ora sob a da heteronomização, a crítica tem colocado em questão o poder disruptivo da arte. Em um percurso que pode ser... more
Ao longo do século XX, a arte esteve subssumida a um debate de posições extremas. Ora sob a égide da autonomização, ora sob a da heteronomização, a crítica tem colocado em questão o poder disruptivo da arte. Em um percurso que pode ser lido desde a busca do novo pelas vanguardas do início do século XX ao esgarçamento da experimentação com o conceitualismo e o minimalismo nas décadas de 50 e 60, tais oposições apareceram nas mais diversas formas, culminando em um pessimismo que adentrou nosso século. Essa luta entre a defesa da autonomia e a heteronomia da arte será analisada a partir da leitura realizada por Rancière do surgimento da estética a partir de Alexandre Baumgarten. O intuito do autor é dar a ver como a estética se configurou desde o princípio de modo paradoxal, o que justificaria que seu nome comporte debates tão extremos.
- by Daniela Cunha Blanco
- •
- by Alessandro Nannini
- •
- by Babu Thaliath
- •
Baumgartens „Metaphysica“ (1. Auflage 1739), vor allem deren Abschnitt „Psychologia empirica“, bietet einen Schlüssel zum Verständnis der Entstehung seiner Konzeption der Ästhetik. Bis heute wurden jedoch die Unterschiede zwischen den... more
Baumgartens „Metaphysica“ (1. Auflage 1739), vor allem deren Abschnitt „Psychologia empirica“, bietet einen Schlüssel zum Verständnis der Entstehung seiner Konzeption der Ästhetik. Bis heute wurden jedoch die Unterschiede zwischen den Auflagen kaum beachtet. Die historisch-kritische Ausgabe der „Metaphysica“, die 2011 in der Reihe FMDA (Forschungen und Materialien zur deutschen Aufklärung, herausgegeben von Günter Gawlick und Lothar Kreimendahl) erschien, basiert auf der 4. Auflage (1757) und erörtert die Änderungen zwischen den Auflagen nicht genügend. Im Folgenden wird von den §§ 504-623, welche die unteren Erkenntnisvermögen behandeln, und auch von §§ 658, 659, 662 und 669, die für das Verständnis der Ästhetik von Belang sind, eine neue Ausgabe eingerichtet, die, auf der 1. Auflage basierend, alle inhaltlich relevanten Varianten dokumentiert, damit man Baumgartens Denkprozess nachvollziehen kann. In der 2. Auflage griff Baumgarten am meisten in den Text ein, aber auch in der 3. Auflage nahm er mehrere Änderungen vor. Die 4. Auflage ist – abgesehen davon, dass den zentralen lateinischen Termini deutsche Übersetzungen beigefügt wurden – mit der 3. Auflage fast identisch. Zwischen den beiden Auflagen findet sich innerhalb der §§ 504-623 nur eine – jedoch inhaltlich relevante – Änderung (siehe § 533).
- by Tanehisa Otabe
- •
- by Marina Decó
- •
- 3
- by Diego Kosbiau Trevisan
- •
- 2
Die voluminöse Schrift Baumgartens, die zu den zentralen Schriften der modernen Ästhetik gehört, 1 aber insgesamt wohl oft nur auszugsweise ge-lesen worden sein wird, da bis vor kurzer Zeit keine vollständige Überset-zung der in... more
Die voluminöse Schrift Baumgartens, die zu den zentralen Schriften der modernen Ästhetik gehört, 1 aber insgesamt wohl oft nur auszugsweise ge-lesen worden sein wird, da bis vor kurzer Zeit keine vollständige Überset-zung der in lateinischer Sprache geschriebenen Schrift ins Deutsche exi-stierte. Alexander Baumgartens Buch ist zudem ein unvollendetes Buch, das leider nicht mehr zu den bereits projektierten Teilen vordrang (man hät-te z.B. nur zu gerne gewußt, was Baumgarten in dem Abschnitt Semiotica würde geschrieben haben, so daß ihm eine gewisse Vorläuferrolle der Wis-senschaft von den Zeichen zukommen würde; S. 10). Auf jeden Fall aber scheint Baumgartens Ästhetik in der letzten Zeit vermehrt Aufmerksamkeit zu erfahren. 2 1 Siehe z.B. die Beiträge zu Baumgarten in: Einführung in die philosophische Ästhetik / Brigitte Scheer.-Darmstadt : Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1997, S. 53-72, Geschichte der Ästhetik von der Aufklärung bis zur Post-moderne : eine paradigmatische Einführung / Norbert Schneider.-Stuttgart : Re-clam, 1996, S. 21-29, sowie den Beitrag von Michael Hauskeller über Baumgar-ten in: Klassiker der Kunstphilosophie : von Platon bis Lyotard / hrsg. von Ste-fan Majetschak.-Orig.-Ausg.-München : Beck, 2005.-338 S. ; 19 cm.-(Beck-sche Reihe ; 1660).-ISBN 3-406-52834-1 : EUR 16.90 [8537].-Hier S. 117-130.-Rez.: IFB 08-1/2-092 http://swbplus.bsz-bw.de/bsz118598724rez-1.htm 2 Siehe Themenschwerpunkt: Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten : sinnliche Er-kenntnis in der Philosophie des Rationalismus / hrsg. von Alexander Aichele und Dagmar Mirbach.-Hamburg : Meiner, 2008.-373 S. ; 24 cm.-(Aufklärung ; 20. 2008).
- by Till Kinzel
- •
In Turkey, issues and problems related to aesthetics have been studied under two categories; (i) literature/art criticism; (ii) philosophical aesthetics. These two categories have been the identifiers in determining the history of... more
In Turkey, issues and problems related to aesthetics have been studied under two categories; (i) literature/art criticism; (ii) philosophical aesthetics. These two categories have been the identifiers in determining the history of aesthetic thought and where İsmail Tunalı stands within this process. The article views the period until İsmail Tunalı as a preparatory stage for the institutionalization of aesthetic thought. The periodic or chronological classifications concerning literature are examined under “bediiyat” (asthetics) topic. Based on the assumption that inquiring the aesthetic realm of existence and the questions it encompasses is a philosophical exploration, the aesthetic thought of İsmail Tunalı, who founded and institutionalized philosophical aesthetics in Turkey has been examined under the title “İsmail Tunalı and Philosophical Aesthetics.
- by Ayşe Taşkent
- •
RESUMEN: El objetivo de este artículo es aclarar el sentido filosófico del término 'estética', el cual posee tanto una dimensión ontológica como cognoscitiva. 'Estética' tiene un significado estricto como sen-sación, y en relación con el... more
RESUMEN: El objetivo de este artículo es aclarar el sentido filosófico del término 'estética', el cual posee tanto una dimensión ontológica como cognoscitiva. 'Estética' tiene un significado estricto como sen-sación, y en relación con el apareció la disciplina filosófica de la estética en la modernidad. Baumgar-ten y Kant la desarrollaron. Este concepto de estética significó una comprensión estética del arte. La reflexión sobre el arte elaborada por Hegel, Heidegger y Adorno supone una crítica de ese concepto estricto de estética, y la necesidad de ampliar la noción de estética si pretendemos que se pueda seguir llamando 'estética' su reflexión sobre el arte. ABSTRACT: This article's aim is to clarify the philosophical sense of the term 'aesthetics', which has both an ontological dimension and a cognitive dimension. 'Aesthetics' has a rigorous meaning as sensation, and the modern philosophical discipline of aesthetics emerged in relation with it. It was developed by Baumgarten and Kant. This concept of aesthetics meant an aesthetics understanding of art. The reflection about art developed by Hegel, Heidegger and Adorno involves a critic against that rigorous concept of aesthetics, and the need of increasing the notion of aesthetics if we expect to continue being able to call 'aesthetics' their reflection about art.
- by Antonio Gutiérrez-Pozo
- •
Pdf File Download
- by Endre Szécsényi
- •
- 5
Directing: Film Techniques & Aesthetics Pdf
58.4 million researchers use this site every month. Ads help cover our server costs.
<ul><li><p>The rise of aesthetics: Baumgarten's radical innovation and Kant's response </p><p>HANS REISS </p><p>Two hundred and sixty years ago this year the most radical demand in the more than two-thousand-year-old history of aesthetics was made.' For on 9 August I 7 3 5 a young Halle student of twenty-two, Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, proclaimed his demand to the world at large that a science of aesthetics be established. On that day he handed in his Master's dissertation Meditationes philosophicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts of his universityZ in which these very words E~CIGZT-~TJ C L I G ~ T ~ K ~ or Aestheticaj appear for the first time in history. To call for a new 'Wissenschaft' is indeed a bold venture. But at first it looked, despite an early review in a learned journal4 and a favourable notice in the standard work on Wolffian philosophy soon afterwards.5 as if his experience would not be very different from that of his Scottish contemporary, David Hume, whose Treatise on human nature 'fell dead- born from the press'.6 Nor did his magnum opus, the Aesthetica, create the stir which it deserved; it was not properly appreciated by the academic world till the middle of our century.' </p><p>I . For detailed bibliographical reference see my articles 'Die Einburgerung der Asthetik in der deutschen Sprache des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts oder Baumgarten und seine Wirkung'. Jahrbuclr drr Drutschen Scl~i l lrrg~sel lsc~a~f 3 7 (199 3 ) . p.10~)- 38, and 'The naturalisation of the term 'Aesthetics' in eighteenth-century German or Alexander Gottlieb Raumgarten and his Impact'. Modern lnriguage rrvicw 89 (T994). p.645-58. as well as my account. 'The rise of aesthetics from Baumgarten to Humboldt'. Cambridge historg of literarg criticism. vol. 4. ed. H. B. Nisbet and Claude Rawson (Cambridge 1997). p.658-80. </p><p>2 . I owe this piece of information to Dipl. jur. Frank Coiffier, Director of the University Archive, Martin Luther-[Jniversity of Halle for whose helphlness I am indebted. Information relating to A. G. Baumgarten is recorded under (UHA) Rep. 2 I HI. No. 61. </p><p>3. Halle. September I 7 3 5 , 9 I 16. p. 39: repr. in Reflections on poetry. A. G. Baurngarten's rnrditatiories philosophim de nonnullis ad yoern pertirirri[ihus. trans., with the original text, an introduction. notes by Karl Aschenbrenner and W. B. Holther (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1954). p.39: further repr. in Philosopliischc Brtrcichtungm iiber ririiga Bedirigungm des Grdichtm. trans. and ed. Heinx Paetzold. Philosophische Bibliothek. 3 5 2 (Hamburg 198 3 ) . p.86. The exact phrase is: ' a t d q s a . EmcrTqpqs a d l q r i r q s siue Aestethicae' (the 'things pcrccived [by what Baumgarten calls the lower faculty of sensitive perception in contrast to the higher faculty of logical thought ('voqTa')) are the objects of the science of aesthetics or aesthetics'). </p><p>4. Hamburgcr Brrichte von Gelehrtrri S ~ I P I I . 8 November I 7 3. j . 5. See Carl Gunther Ludovici. Ausfiilirlichu Eritwurf' eirier vollstiindigen Historic der Wol/fisclieri </p><p>Pliilosopliie (Leipzig I 7 37): repr. in Christian Woll'f. Slirritlicke Werke. 111 (Materalien und Dokumente). I . 2 . ed. Jean Ecole (Hildesheim and New York 1977) . 9509, p.469. </p><p>6 . David Hume. 'My own Life', in E. C. Mossner. Tlu, L f e ofDrrvid Hurtle (Edinburgh 19 54). p.612. 7. See Philosophische Betrcichtungen. trans. and ed. Paetzold, p.LVI-LX. for a bibliography citing the </p><p>reception of Baumgarten's work and writings. In addition to Paetzold's introduction. I found Hans Rudolf Schweizer. Asthetik cils Philusophie dpr siiiri/ic,lirvi Erkmntnis. Eine Iriterpretrrtion drr 'Astlietica '. A. G. Bnun~gnrtrris tnit trilwriscr Wirdergdw rtrs I~iteitiiscIier~ Textes und drutsclier Ubersetiuiig (Basel </p></li><li><p>54 HANS REISS </p><p>And yet aesthetics took off even before the publication of the Aesthetica in I 750. This speedy rise of this new discipline is surprising, for M.A. dissertations are hardly the stuff of which best-sellers are made. Of course, aesthetics did not take root because the then King of Prussia, Frederick William I, a very stern ruler rightly called the soldier-king. had commanded Baumgarten to hurry and complete his thesisS8 which Baumgarten duly did. There were several reasons for the success of aesthetics: by all accounts Baumgarten was an outstanding teacher, first in Halle and later from I 740 onwards in Frankfurt-an-der-Oder where, for instance, Friedrich Nicolai, the well-known writer and publisher, was so enthralled by his lecturing style that, barred from the lecture-room as a non- student, he crept into the corridor outside the lecture-room to listen through the cracks in the door.9 </p><p>Baumgarten was a successful lecturer because he possessed the two qualities necessary for good lecturing: he had something to say and he knew how to say it. In Halle, the leading German university of the day, he taught metaphysics. His textbook on that subject in Latin, the Metaphysica. first published in 1737, republished six times by I 779 and twice in German translation, established him as the leading exponent of Wolffian philosophy, then dominant in Germany. This book was widely used as a textbook in German universities, even by Kant himself, who praised its 'wealth of thought'I' and 'clarity of presentation'.' </p><p>In the Metaphysics Baumgarten refers to aesthetics, and in his lectures he talked about that new science. In his few years as a lecturer in Halle he appears to have inspired some very gifted students who became the rising poets of the day: Gleim, Uz, Rudnick, Pyra and Lange.'l Literary historians call most of them Anacreontic or Rococo poets because they bravely celebrated the joys of the senses, of drinking and love, of wine and women. These poets felt that Baumgart- en's aesthetics philosophically legitimised their work. It provided an antidote to the prevailing literary doctrine, that of Johann Christoph Gottsched, professor of poetry in Leipzig. at that time the virtual dictator of German literary taste. Gottsched is not without merit: he stabilised the German literary language and </p><p>and Stuttgart I 9 7 3 ). and Ursula Franke. Kurist r i k Erkrrintnis. Die Kolle dar Sinnlichkrit in der Asthetik Alexander Gottlirb Baurngnrtens. Studia Leibniziana Supplementa. 9 (Wiesbaden I 972) particularly helpful. Armand Nivelle. Lrs Thcbrics rsthit iques eri A ~ ~ r r t l a g l i e de Hnumgartm d Karit. Bibliotheque de la Faculte de Philosophie et Lettres de I'lJniversitc de Liege, I 34 (Paris 1955). and Lewis White Beck, Earl!/ G e r m m philosophy (Cambridge. Mass. I 969). also provide most useful surveys of Bauingarten's aesthetics. </p><p>8. See letter to the IJniversity of Halle. 2 2 March I 714. in which the King uses the very word 'command' ('befehlen'). </p><p>9. See Friedrich Nicolai. U r b r r inr i i ie gr l r l i r te Bildurig (Berlin and Stettin I 799). p.26. 10. Nnchriclit w ~ r i dcr Einricliturig seirier Vorlesurigen irri W i r i t ~ ~ r l ~ ~ ~ / l ~ j ~ i l r r I 765-66. in Gesarnr7ielti~ </p><p>Srhrifter~ (Account of tl7r strirc'ture of his lectures iri the winter t u r n I 765-66) (Akademieausgabe) (Berlin ILeipzigl. 19oof.: 29 vols to date, hereafter cited as AA). ii. 308. </p><p>11. Ibid.: AA. ii. 308. Kant also calls it 'the inost useful of all handbooks [on metaphysics]', N e w Aiirnc.rkiirigi~ri i u r Er l i i i te ru i ig rier Throrie dr r Wiride (h'ew rortinients on t lrr explarintion of the theorg of winds). AA, i .503 . </p><p>12. See Theodor Verweyeni Gunther Witting. 'Zur Rezeplion Baumgartens bei Uz. Gleim und Rudnick'. Zeitsclirift f i i r Deutsclie I'hilologie I I 3 (19941. p.49(>-5 14, for an account of Baumgarten's impact on some of these poets. </p></li><li><p>The rise of rresthetics -j 5 </p><p>tidied up the German theatre, but his view of literature was a narrow rationalist and moral one which denied the imagination the scope it needs. Thus. he had no use for the work of the Rococo poets, and they, in turn. abominated his views. Of course. dictatorships never last. Young people then and now want to rebel against them because they want to speak with their own voice. So did these Rococo poets. For them Baumgarten's aesthetics was a gift from the gods. Here was a bright Wolffian philosopher who could be cited against Gottsched, whose Erste Criindr der gesamrnten Weltweisheit (Leipzig, I 73 3-34) had been hailed as the popular account of the Wolffian system and was widely read. even by the Prussian monarch. And Wolff mattered. His prestige was immense, as was demonstrated by his being the only German philosopher ever to have been raised to the rank of Imperial Baron. But Baumgarten's Metaphysicn, being in Latin, was academically more respectable than Gottsched's treatise. That by itself would not have been enough. Fortunately the thrust of Baumgarten's conception of aesthetics was conveyed in the vernacular as well, in I 742, by a review article of the Meditationes in a literary journal, the Greifswalder Critische Versuche.' 3 Its anonymous author singled out the terms 'aesthetic' and 'aesthet- ics', first introduced in 1741 by Baumgarten into the German language in a short-lived Moral weekly, the Philosophischr Briefe by Aletheophilus (Frankfurt- an-der-Oder, 1741; Halle. 17411, of which he was the sole writer and editor. The Greifswald review attracted the attention of Gottsched's fiercest opponents, the Zurich critics Johann Jakob Rodmer and Johann Jaltob Breitinger, who immediately realised that Baumgarten's ideas constituted an arsenal which could be pillaged so as to make their fight against Gottsched acadeniically reputable. And they persuaded Georg Friedrich Meier, Baumgarten's star pupil and his successor in Halle, to wage war against Gottsched.'4 Meier had by then already started to spread the gospel of aesthetics. He did not have a truly original mind, but was a prolific writer by any standard'5 - he wrote sixty-five books and. with his poet-friend Pastor Samuel Gotthold Lange. forty-two volumes of 'Moral Weeklies' over a period of twenty-one years. </p><p>Meier, who had first paid homage to Gottsched, pulled no punches. His polemics aroused the inevitable reaction. Gottsched and his disciples replied: Gottsched himself, oddly enough, far less vigorously than his disciples. Since Meier was the main propagator of aesthetics, that new science too was dragged </p><p>I 3 . Critische Versurkr ausgr/rrtigt dtrrcli Eirtiyc Mitgl iutkr der Dcwtsclterl Grstdfschafr iu Gre$sivald 6 ( I 742). i99f. </p><p>14. Johann Jakob Bodmer to Samuel (;otthoid Lange (written probably between September I 745 and March I 746 1, Samuel Cotthold Lange. S ' m r ~ r r i l i r r i g gelehrter c r r d frrundssc.linfrlichPr Brit$' (Halle I 769). i.129. Meier had asked Bodrncr for advice on wrhether he should attack Gottsched (see letter by Meier to Bodmer. 27 June I 746. in Ernst Bergmann. Dip Begriindurrg drr drutschm Astlwtik durch A h . Gottlieb Rairtngarteri und G(wg Friedrich M P ~ P ~ . Mit einrni Atiliarig: G. F . MrJic,rs u r i g e d r u c h Hrre[e (Leipzig 191 I 1, p.249). </p><p>I 5. See my article 'Georg Friedrich Meier und die Verbreitung der Asthetik'. in Cc,scliic~lrtlic.likrit und Cugenwart. Festschrift f i ir Hans Dietridt Irnisclirr. ed. Hans Esselborn and Werner Keller (Cologne and Weimar 1994). p.I3-.34. for an account o f Meier's impact on eighteenth-century literary life and for further bibliographical information. </p></li><li><p>56 HANS REISS </p><p>into the battle. At issue was the question of whether there was a case for aesthetics as a theory and as a term. </p><p>The Gottschedians never attempted a genuine refutation ofBaumgartens ideas, but denied aesthetics the right to exist and denounced the word. Meier waged an all-out campaign. He did not merely seek to propagate Baumgartens ideas, but believed that he had improved on them, that he had enriched and enlarged the work of his teacher of whom he always spoke with respect and warmth.I His writings on aesthetics certainly take up far more space than Baumgartens who, unlike Meier, was laconic. Meier diluted Baumgartens wine with water. 7 He did not grasp Baumgartens contention that beauty resides in the act of cognition, nor did he stick to Baumgartens strict separation of aesthetics from ethics. But his publicity for the term aesthetics carried the day. His fight against Gottsched was successful, primarily because Gottscheds star was waning. The rising generation of poets and writers and most of the younger scholars thought Gottsched out of date. Thus, Gottscheds opposition to aesthetics was counter-productive. The more Gottsched and his ilk protested, the more aesthetics caught on. For Meier did not fight alone: he had pupils who began to teach the new science in quite a few reputable universities. In due course, chairs of aesthetics were established. I * Kant himself lectured in the I 760s on aesthetics or the science of taste.Iq Meier had read the mood of the age correctly, and the word and the concept of aesthetics were established, though understood more or less on Meiers terms. </p><p>A brief look at Baumgartens theory must suffice.zo Following the scheme of thought put forward by Leibniz and Wolff, he argues that aesthetics belongs to our lower faculty that deals with sensuous knowledge as distinct from logic, which belongs to our higher faculty that deals with mental cognition. To use the term the lower faculty does not imply inferiority. For Baumgarten aesthetics is entirely non-utilitarian and separate from ethics and theology. Beauty does not reside in the object contemplated but in the act of cognition, though if we discover beauty by way of cognition, we must, as a consequence, substantiate our claim by singling out the specific features in the object. In other words, we shall have to provide examples. They should reveal plenitude, magnitude, truth, clarity, certainty. and a movement of living power. These qualities will bring forth the pleasure of nobility and of light. But this pleasure cannot be achieved unless the work of art possesses an individuality of its own, which, in turn, entails order, concentration and selection. If we can demonstrate the prevalence of these features we have a right to call a work of art beautiful, that is, we have </p><p>16. See, for instance, Samuel Gotthold Lange. Leben Ceorg Friedrich Meiers (Halle I 778) , p.35. 17. These are the words used by the well-known classical scholar Johann Matthias Gesner in </p><p>18. See Klaus Weimar, Geschichte d w deutsrhen ~i t e ra turwi s sens~hu~ f bis zum Ende des I 9. Jahrhund- </p><p>19. See Nachricht von der Eiririchtung seiner Vorlesungen irn Winterhalbjahr I 765-1 766: AA, ii.312. 20. See note 7. </p><p>Primae Lineae ad lsagoges (Praelectiones). 2nd edn (Leipzig I 774). I . 219. </p><p>rrts (Munich 1989). p.78-101. </p></li><li><p>shown that the work exhibits poi-fer t in2 so that it can. if it is a poem - and Baumgarten. a lover of Latin poetry, used poetry to exemplify his theory - be deemed to be an oratio sensitivtr porfwfn....</p></li></ul>