Paper Topic:

Philosophy

Philosophy

In my essay I will discuss the theory of art using historical approach The historical development of the main concepts of art will be shown through the theories of some philosophers who represent different stages of the philosophical thought . Thus , I will compare and contrast the art theories of Immanuel Kant , Hegel and Nietzsche . My choice is determined by the following facts : Kant made the `Copernican turn ' in the history of philosophy and initiated a new way to interpret the concept of art that was partially followed , disputed and developed by

his contemporaries and descendants . Hegel is considered to be last among the philosophers who set the bases of the contemporary system of philosophical thinking . Hegel introduced dialectic approach to understanding phenomena and of laws the outer world and of art in particular . Also Hegel focused on the concept of idea and based many of his theses on it . And Friedrich Nietzsche is one of the most influential scholars in modern thinking , who unmasked motives that underlie the traditional concept of art . The theories of art developed by the mentioned philosophers will be compared and contrasted through a number of constituent concepts . These concepts are : beautiful , form and content , artist , art and its purpose . Thus , I will show how historically understanding of the basic concepts of art differed and how the theory of art changed and developed

Immanuel Kant in his work Kritik der Urteilskraft ( Critique of Aesthetic Judgment ) discussed aesthetic purposiveness of art . And the philosopher argued that judgments of beauty can not be cognitive because they rest on one 's feeling , not on one 's argument . Thus , Kant suggested the following definition of art : Fine art is the mode of representation which is intrinsically final , and which , although devoid of an end , has the effect of advancing the culture of the mental powers in the interests of social communication ' On the whole , Kant built his art theory on the following principles and beliefs

free play of imagination is very important in art

esthetic experience is free from any concepts and thus it is disinterested

moral and spiritual is significant for esthetic experience

central object of esthetic experience is nature , not art

Beauty is the sensible manifestation of morality ' by stating this Kant tied moral to beautiful and thus added some social context to this notion . Also beautiful is closely connected with taste . Taste is the faculty of estimating an object or mode of representation by means of a delight or aversion apart from any interest . The object of such a delight is called beautiful ' When a person finds an object beautiful it means that his understanding and his imagination are in certain harmony and this causes the immediate delight when he perceives the object . According to Kant , one 's imagination grasps the object and it is not restricted to any concepts , whereas the delight a person feels can be imputed to others and it is based on the free play of this person 's cognitive faculties . Such...

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