Principles of Aesthetic Appreciation of Sceneries

H. Kant’s novel received a high literary and aesthetic appreciation in criticism and wide recognition by readers. Criticism (before and after the unification of Germany) concerns mainly one aspect viz. authenticity of the events depicted in the novel and the charcters’ images. Opponents argue that Kant’s ideological views, his consistent socialist and party position have prompt him to embellish reality, create simulacra, and the idyllic world of socialist Biedermeyer. The article shows that these assessments ignore the nature of his talent, especially his creative personality peculiarities such as journalistic orientation of the motivated «political» person and writer.

Download Full-text

Getting Practical

10.1093/oso/9780198827214.003.0003 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Dominic McIver Lopes

Keyword(s):

Network Theory ◽

Mental Representations ◽

Practical Reasons ◽

Main Argument ◽

Aesthetic Appreciation ◽

Aesthetic Value ◽

Aesthetic Property ◽

Aesthetic Values ◽

Aesthetic Reason

While the main argument for the network theory of aesthetic value is that it better explains the facts about aesthetic activity than does aesthetic hedonism, the two theories share some common assumptions. Aesthetic evaluations are mental representations that attribute aesthetic values to items. Aesthetic acts are acts based on aesthetic evaluations. Aesthetic values figure in aesthetic reasons, which are practical reasons. That is, an aesthetic reason lends weight to the proposition that an agent should perform some act—an act of aesthetic appreciation, for example. Hence, one task for a theory of aesthetic value is to state what makes some values aesthetic. A second is to state what makes it the case that an aesthetic property figures in a reason that lends weight to what an agent should do. Aesthetic hedonism and the network theory offer only to explain the practical normativity of aesthetic value.

Download Full-text

Challenges and Responses to Everyday Aesthetics

10.1093/oso/9780199672103.003.0002 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Yuriko Saito

Keyword(s):

Aesthetic Experience ◽

Phenomenological Description ◽

Aesthetic Appreciation ◽

Everyday Aesthetics ◽

Popular Appeal ◽

The Rich

Everyday aesthetics is often criticized for lacking aesthetic credentials. Its legitimacy as a discourse is questioned because proximal senses, experiences gained while engaging in an activity, and qualities other than beauty and sublimity are included in its purview. Inclusion of these items is considered to deny a clear ‘object’ of aesthetic appreciation, the possibility of objective judgments, and profundity of aesthetic experience. Excluding them, however, does not do justice to the rich and multifaceted contents of everyday aesthetic life. Phenomenological description, instead of the judgment-oriented and objectivity-seeking discourse, is more appropriate for exploring some dimensions of everyday aesthetic life. In addition, while possibly lacking the same degree of profundity and intensity of beauty and sublimity, the popular appeal of easily recognizable aesthetic qualities deserves to be investigated because of their prevalence and frequent manipulation for commercial and political purposes.

Download Full-text

The Wisdom of Desire in the Song of Songs

The Oxford Handbook of the Writings of the Hebrew Bible ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190212438.013.11 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 260-275

Author(s):

Carey Walsh

Keyword(s):

Sexual Arousal ◽

Song Of Songs ◽

Aesthetic Appreciation ◽

Embodied Experience ◽

Male And Female ◽

Female Voices ◽

Human Desire

The Song of Songs offers a unique discussion of the experience of sexual longing through dialogues of an unnamed woman and man. The chapter focuses on the use of dialogic structure to frame three prominent discourses of desire: aesthetic appreciation, affective description, and subjective expressions of sexual arousal. These varied discourses affirm a polyphonic view on human desire from the embodied experience of the male and female voices of the Song. With its use of dialogue, the Song is characteristic of the Writings in offering a diversity of perspectives. The chapter further probes the canonical contribution of the Song’s testimony to human longing, sex, joy, and biodiversity.

Download Full-text