Keywords: Kant's critical aesthetics of judgment is uninteresting
Kant put forward the proposition that "aesthetics has nothing to do with interests" in his aesthetic work Critique of Judgment, which is an epoch-making revolution in the history of aesthetic development. The proposition that "aesthetics does not involve interests" is the theoretical cornerstone that makes aesthetics independent, and it is also the watershed between modern aesthetics and traditional classical aesthetics. Because traditional classical aesthetics is mixed with epistemology and ethics, modern aesthetics separates them. Therefore, American aesthetic historian Jerome? Stobenitz once said: "Unless we can understand the concept of indifference, we can't understand modern aesthetic theory." [1] It can be seen that the concept of "aesthetic indifference" plays an important role in the history of aesthetics.
First, the origin of the theory of "aesthetic disinterest"
With regard to the argument that "I am not interested in aesthetics", Plato in ancient Greece thinks that beauty is not useful, beneficial or good, nor is it the pleasure of listening and watching. Plato clearly distinguished between beauty itself and literature and art, and besides beauty, it should have effects. Saint? Thomas? Aquinas said: "goodness is something that can satisfy desires, and good things can give people pleasure as soon as they are detected." [2] Here is the meaning of "aesthetic disinterest".
/kloc-in the 8th century, the British aesthetician Joz Burleigh believed that the scale of aesthetic judgment was mainly the quickness and unhappiness of the aesthetic subject's emotion. He believes that "disinterest" is only a concern and concern when describing a virtuous person as a bystander who "observes and watches" the beauty in his behavior and virtue. This way later developed into a static "aesthetic perception way" that does not involve practical and ethical considerations, and the concept of "aesthetic disinterest" was born. Therefore, it is generally believed that Shaftsbury was the first aesthetician who really and systematically advocated "not interested in aesthetics".
After Schaaffs Berry, British aesthetician Bok thought that beauty is "a certain attribute or certain attribute that an object can cause love or similar emotions" in his book The Roots of Sublime and Beauty published in 1756. [3] Love is different from desire. Desire forces us to possess something, but what is attracted by desire is not necessarily beautiful. People with "high beauty" make us love, but they don't cause desire. It can be seen that beauty has nothing to do with desire. Others, such as Addison and Homer, have also talked about the problem of "not interested in aesthetics", but in contrast, the views of aestheticians after Shafsbury have not surpassed him. They either mix aesthetics with morality, or describe it from the perspective of experience, such as Bok's aesthetic theory. However, for Kant, "feeling without interest" is no longer a concept that leads from ethical axiology to aesthetics, nor is it a fragmentary description of experience. He clearly put forward the aesthetic proposition of "aesthetic indifference" as the cornerstone of his aesthetic theory construction, and made the most systematic and complete exposition on it.
Second, the characteristics of Kant's theory of "aesthetic disinterest"
Kant thinks that "appreciation and judgment are aesthetic" in his analysis of beauty in Critique of Judgment. [4] Why? Kant believes that appreciation judgment is not seeking knowledge, but connecting the happiness and unhappiness of the subject with imagination. It is a subjective aesthetic judgment, not a logical judgment, but "only the subject is conscious because of the stimulation of appearances". [4] Kant further pointed out that appreciation judgment is non-utilitarian, and its aesthetic feeling is "not interesting". [4] He asserted: "As long as the judgment of beauty is mixed with a little sense of interest, it will produce preference rather than pure appreciation judgment." [4] Therefore, he advocates that there should be no preference for objective things, but a "pure indifference" attitude must be maintained.
First of all, based on the analysis of "quick comfort", Kant put forward that "aesthetics is not the enjoyment of function" because "pleasure in quick comfort is combined with interest". [4] For example, when people drink a cool drink when they are thirsty in a very hot summer, they will suddenly feel very comfortable. If they just watch a cool drink and don't drink it, they will never enjoy this comfort.
Secondly, Kant refutes the traditional concept of understanding beauty from the perspective of ethics since ancient Greece, that is, "beauty is good" or "beauty is the unity of good", and thinks that beauty is not good. Because goodness is a rational evaluation of human beings, if the pleasure of the senses is limited to the human body, then the pleasure caused by goodness only acts on the human spirit. That is to say, "moral goodness", "interests first" and "goodness is the object of desire". [4] The pleasure of goodness produced by intention is not aesthetic pleasure.
Aesthetics is different from the first two. When people appreciate the beauty of a thing, they have no desire, but are purely passive and indifferent. Beauty makes people feel "satisfied" and "happy", and nothing else can be said. This is the aesthetic feeling produced by Shang Huashi.
Through the comparative study of three different characteristics of pleasure (namely, functional pleasure, good pleasure and aesthetic pleasure). Kant said: "among the three kinds of happiness, only the pleasure of appreciating beauty is the only free happiness without interest;" Because there is neither functional sense of interest nor rational sense of interest to force us to praise. " [4]
From the above analysis, we can see Kant's strict logical judgment. He first grasped the essential characteristics of beauty and confirmed that appreciation and judgment are aesthetic; Then further demonstrate that this aesthetic judgment is irrelevant; Then, it analyzes the non-interest relationship, and distinguishes the aesthetic factors and non-aesthetic factors in the three kinds of happiness by this standard. Finally, his Interpretation of Beauty from the First Opportunity is: "Appreciation is the judgment of an object or its expression method by virtue of the happiness and unhappiness of completely irrelevant concepts." Kant's conclusion is that appreciation and judgment are aesthetic and uninteresting.
Thirdly, the significance and influence of Kant's "aesthetic indifference" theory.
Kant put forward the proposition that aesthetics does not involve interests in order to determine the independent field of aesthetics from a purely academic point of view. "Aesthetic indifference" is the cornerstone of Kant's aesthetic category, the theoretical premise of a series of important concepts in Kant's aesthetics, and the theoretical cornerstone of Kant's aesthetic (art) self-discipline theory to separate aesthetics and art from reality. Before the concept of aesthetic disinterest appeared, art had cognitive value and theoretical value, but it had no aesthetic value. After the establishment of aesthetic indifference, the value of art itself is truly established.
Secondly, Kant's aesthetic boredom is also a powerful impact on feudal classicism, which emphasizes the utilitarian role of beauty and art. Western classical aesthetics, from Socrates to Voltaire and Diderot, has no distinction between beauty and goodness, and connects beauty with utilitarianism and interest, and regards art as a means of understanding and moral education. The proposition of "aesthetic uninteresting" can be said to be an epoch-making revolution in the history of aesthetic development, which promoted the rise of romanticism, triggered the literary trend of aestheticism, and influenced many schools of modern aesthetics as the cornerstone of new aesthetic theory.
Romanticism aims at opposing classicism, which represents the interests of feudal nobles and aesthetic standards. "Aesthetic disinterest" is the core proposition of Kant's aesthetics. In connection with this proposition, Kant emphasized the free nature of art, the characteristics of imagination and the creation of genius. Romanticism first appeared in Germany, which was related to Kant's thought. Auguste, one of the representatives of Jena School in early romanticism? Shi R said, "A house is for living, but in this sense, what is the use of a painting or a poem?" ..... unwilling to be useful is the essence of art "[5] Coleridge, a representative of British romanticism, went to Germany to study Kant's philosophy and aesthetics when he was young. He emphasized that art has nothing to do with interests and truth, but only for pleasure, which is the result of creative imagination that unifies individual concrete things with eternal ideas, objects with subject's mind. Therefore, he emphasized genius, opposed imitation and regarded imagination as the fundamental movement of poetry. Madame de stael is an early French romantic theorist. Through his works from Germany and Literature, he made full preparations for France to understand Kant's aesthetics and German literature and the romantic trend of thought under their influence. Compared with romanticism, Kant's aesthetic thought of "aesthetic indifference" is more obviously influenced by aestheticism that first appeared in France at the end of 19. Gautier, the representative of aestheticism, thinks that art is not practical and has nothing to do with morality and politics. The only purpose of art is to create beauty, and art and beauty should be equal. Other representatives of British aestheticism, such as Pater and Wilde, were influenced by Kant's aesthetic indifference theory to varying degrees. However, aestheticism takes an attitude of using Kant's thoughts for my own use. Kant said that aesthetics has nothing to do with interests, but is pure beauty, while literature and art do not belong to pure beauty, but belong to pure beauty, which involves purpose, cognition and morality, so it is related to utility. Art and beauty are not the same concept in Kant's view, and aestheticism tries to equate them to prove that art is pure beauty. In addition to romanticism and aestheticism, Kant's proposition of "aesthetic indifference" also promoted the emergence of "game theory" and "distance theory" in modern aesthetics. Kant said in Critique of Judgment that art is free, "as if it were just a game … he is happy and can succeed with his purpose". [4] From Schiller's "Game Impulse Theory" to the further revision and development of Spencer and Gullers, they are all influenced by Kant. They grasp the irrelevance of the game, thus linking art to explain art. British artist Bloch further developed the aesthete Wilde's thought that art should be divorced from reality and the times, put forward that aesthetic activity is a comprehensive view of the concept of "distance" between subject and object, and founded the "distance theory". "Game Theory" and "Distance Theory" are both based on Kant's "Aesthetic Indifference" theory.
In fact, this basic proposition in Kant's aesthetics is not without contradictions. He emphasized the non-utility and aimlessness of aesthetic judgment, but as an aesthetic subject, human beings are social beings. The significance of human labor and the inextricable connection between human spiritual activities and material life are all ignored in aimlessness, which will inevitably lead to subjective idealism. The proposition of "not interested in aesthetics" did not raise art to the level of pure beauty, but Kant was the first person to separate aesthetics and regard art as the basic theoretical direction and research field of aesthetics. He not only influenced Hegel and Marx, but also influenced almost the whole western aesthetics in the 20th century.
References:
[1] Thank you. The ultimate beauty [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 1997.
[2] Wu Yifu. Selected western literary theories: (1) [C]. Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1979.
[3] Western aestheticians on beauty and aesthetic feeling [C]. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1980.
[4] Kant. Translated by Zong Baihua. Criticism of judgment: (1) [M]. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1987.
[5] Wu Yifu. A brief history of European literary theory [M]. Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 1985.