The meaning of the "beautiful" seems hard to pin down. Yet intersubjective and objective criteria of the beautiful nevertheless exist. The foundation of aesthetics as a "science" of the beautiful based on sensuous experience temporarily suspended this tension. Since modernity, the question of the beautiful has been ever more open. We shall approach this question theoretically and historically.
Learning objective
The meaning of the "beautiful" seems hard to define. At first glance, it rather constitutes a merely subjective sensation. Yet, on the other hand, intersubjective, collective and cultural ideas, or even objective criteria of the beautiful exist. Since antiquity, this irresolvable tension has characterized the discourse on the beautiful in the realms of art and philosophy. With the foundation of "aesthetics" in the 18th century, however, this debate was significantly altered. This new "science" aimed at a scientific investigation of the beautiful by situating sensuous impression above logic. While art had been hitherto understood as a learnable technique, it now appears as a sensuous and therefore subjective realization. The rejection of this optimism marks the turn to modernity that defined itself through a notion of art transcending the beautiful. Ever since, the question as to the meaning of the beautiful has been continuously open for debate. In the course of this seminar, we shall approach this question from a historical as well as theoretical perspective.
