It is like Kant is saying that a person should inherently know when something is beautiful. Judging beauty based on concepts is like being told what is beautiful and then stating that an object is beautiful based on that prior knowledge for comparison. It seems like having a preconceived idea of what is beautiful taints an observer’s judgment. In another sense, it could refer to technicalities of what should be beautiful. For instance, a beautiful object should have appealing colors and an organic shape. Kant argues that the judgment of beauty should not be based on pleasure but rather pleasure should be derived from it. Again, it is like an object should radiate beauty to the observer. The observer should stop and notice the beauty before seeking enjoyment of it. Further, if a person is too quick to judge everything that is encountered on the basis of known ideas or facts, then the beauty of certain objects will be lost on the observer. For instance, a person encounters a decorated glass serving dish and notes that it is an object with which to serve food. Then, the person encounters a decorative piece of glass and wonders what it could be used for. In fact, the decorative piece of glass is only for display and is supposed to evoke a sense of beauty, which is lost to the mind focused on concepts.
On the judgment of beauty Kant states, “But this universality cannot arise from concepts; for from concepts there is no transition to the feeling of pleasure or pain . . .” This statement comes after Kant’s argument that beauty judgments may be deemed logical and involves concepts but in reality are purely aesthetical. Here, he makes it seem like concepts are related to reason and have no bearing on a judgment made on something more abstract like beauty. A judgment can be thought of as something concrete based on reason and logical thought, but for Kant a judgment of beauty cannot be based on that. However, a true judgment of beauty is something that may be universally related to, which makes it seem more concrete.
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Excellent, simple, opening statement, Whitney: "It is like Kant is saying that a person should inherently know when something is beautiful. Judging beauty based on concepts is like being told what is beautiful and then stating that an object is beautiful based on that prior knowledge for comparison." - So, there is more to it than "being told."
ReplyDeleteI liked your comment that a judgement should be based on reason and logical thought, yet Kant's view is that it cannot be defined in this way. Itr really makes me think differently about how we judge beauty in art.
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