Aesthetic/Aesthetics

Title
Aesthetic/Aesthetics
Publication Date
2013
Author(s)
McDonald, William
Editor
Editor(s): Steven M Emmanuel, William McDonald and Jon Stewart
Type of document
Book Chapter
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Ashgate Publishing
Place of publication
Farnham, United Kingdom
Edition
1
Series
Kierkegaard Research: Sources, Reception and Resources
UNE publication id
une:15106
Abstract
The Danish and English words are derived from the Greek αίσθητά, which means "that which can be sensed." The first modem usage of the word is in the work of the German philosopher Alexander Baumgarten, who in his book 'Aesthetica' (1750-58) defined the beautiful as the sensuous representation of the perfect. Subsequently, aesthetics became the discipline that deals with the beautiful in art and nature. This in turn gave rise to the notion of the aesthete, as a person who to an extreme degree pursues beauty in everything. "The aesthetic" in Kierkegaard's work designates (a) the artistic apprehension of beauty and (b) an existential sphere. "Aesthetics" designates critical reflection on art. By far the most frequent usage of the term by Kierkegaard is in the sense of an existential sphere, though the three senses are interrelated.
Link
Citation
Kierkegaards Concepts - Tome I: Absolute to Church, p. 23-29
ISBN
9781472417497
Start page
23
End page
29

Files:

NameSizeformatDescriptionLink