The Science of Aesthetics, the Critique of Taste, and the Philosophy of Art

Ambiguities and Contradictions

Authors

  • J Colin McQuillan St. Mary's University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58519/aesthinv.v4i2.11912

Keywords:

fa, Art, Feeling, Taste, Sensation, Critique, Science, Hegel, Schelling, Baumgarten, Kant

Abstract

Aesthetics is the part of contemporary academic philosophy that is concerned with art, beauty, criticism, and taste. As such, it must address metaphysical issues (distinguishing works of art from other kinds of things), epistemic problems (the experience of beauty, the standards of critical judgment), and questions of value (the difference between good and bad taste). This makes it difficult to present a coherent account of the subject matter of aesthetics. In this article, I argue that this difficulty is the result of ambiguities and contradictions that arose in disputes about the relationship between the science of aesthetics, the critique of taste, and the philosophy of art in German philosophy during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. By reconstructing the history of these debates, I hope to shed new light on the origins of aesthetics as a discipline and to explain why its subject matter and status within philosophy are still so difficult to define.

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Published

2021-09-06

How to Cite

McQuillan, J Colin. 2021. “The Science of Aesthetics, the Critique of Taste, and the Philosophy of Art: Ambiguities and Contradictions”. Aesthetic Investigations 4 (2): 144-62. https://doi.org/10.58519/aesthinv.v4i2.11912.