Christian Helmut Wenzel

An Introduction to Kant's Aesthetics

Core Concepts and Problems

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Kant's Critique of the Power of Judgment is one of the most important and enduring contributions to philosophical aesthetics. It is also notoriously difficult. In An Introduction to Kant's Aesthetics, Christian Wenzel discusses and demystifies this seminal work, guiding the reader each step of the way, placing key points of discussion in the context of Kant's other work. The starting point of Kant's aesthetics, and Wenzel's treatment, is the observation that aesthetic judgments seem to hover uneasily between subjective and objective domains. On the one hand, there appear to be standards of taste, such that aesthetic judgments demand some kind of consensus; on the other hand, there simultaneously seem to exist no specific rules governing what is beautiful. Beginning with this premise, Kant delineates four moments of aesthetic judgment, considers the question of the beautiful, the sublime, and the ugly, and from this groundwork creates a new philosophical theory that reveals the essence of taste, and much else, about human nature besides. Wenzel artfully guides readers through Kant's work with thoroughness and clarity, making Kant's aesthetics accessible to newcomers and more rewarding for those returning to the subject.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley
• Seitenzahl: 208
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Oktober 2005
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 240mm x 161mm x 15mm
• Gewicht: 472g
• ISBN-13: 9781405130356
• ISBN-10: 1405130350
• Artikelnr.: 21279618

Autorenporträt

Christian Helmut Wenzel is Associate Professor at the National Chi Nan University in Taiwan. He is the author of The Problem of Subjective Universality of the Judgment of Taste in Kant,published in German (2000).

Inhaltsangabe

Foreword by Henry E. Allison viii
Acknowledgments xi
About This Book xii
Note on the Translation xiv
Introduction 1
The Aesthetic Dimension Between Subject and Object 1
The Meaning of "Aesthetic" 4
Categories as a Guide 8
The "Moments" of a Judgment of Taste 13
1 Disinterestedness: First Moment 19
Disinterestedness as a Subjective Criterion 19
Three Kinds of Satisfaction: Agreeable, Beautiful, Good 23
2 Universality: Second Moment 27
The Argument from Self-Reflection: Private, Public, Universal 27
Subjective Universality 31
A Case of Transcendental Logic 35
Singular "but" Universal 39
How to Read Section 9 46
3 Purposiveness: Third Moment 54
Purpose without Will, Purposiveness without Purpose 54
Purposiveness and Form: Charm versus Euler 60
Of "Greatest Importance": Beauty and Perfection 65
Beauty: Free, Dependent, and Ideal 69
4 Necessity: Fourth Moment 77
Exemplary Necessity 77
Kant's Interpretation of the sensus communis 81
The Deduction 86
5 Fine Art, Nature, and Genius 94
Fine Art and Why It Must Seem like Nature 94
Genius and Taste 98
Genius and Aesthetic Ideas 101
6 Beyond Beauty 106
The Sublime 106
Beauty as the Symbol of Morality 113
The Analytic, the Dialectic, and the Supersensible 120
7 Two Challenges 128
Can Kant's Aesthetics Account for the Ugly? 128
Can there be Beauty and Genius in Mathematics? 133
Summary and Overview 141
Before Kant 141
Kant's Aesthetics 142
After Kant 146
Glossary 149
Bibliography 157
Index 171

Rezensionen

"As an overall assessment, then, this is undoubtedly one of themost interesting and meticulous "guides" to Kant's aesthetictheory. Even though Wenzel clearly adopts a slightly differentapproach to Kant's aesthetic theory than this reviewer, this bookis probably the best introductory volume currently available."Elisabeth Shellekens, The Journal of Aesthetics and ArtCriticism

"In sum, I highly recommend this book to students and scholarswith some familiarity with Kant and the "Critique ofAesthetic Judgment." This book will surely deepen theirunderstanding of Kant." Kenneth F. Rogerson, Notre DamePhilosophical Reviews

"Wenzel's book is an invaluable aid for all seriousstudents of Kant's third Critique. The reconstruction ofarguments is clear and concise; the annotated bibliography isremarkably knowledgeable and helpful." Karl Ameriks,University of Notre Dame

"This volume will be indispensable to any new reader ofKant's third Critique who seeks illumination of its key concepts,insights into its philosophical context, and guidance for furtherstudy." Eckart Förster, Johns HopkinsUniversity