Immanuel Kant's

Critique of
Aesthetic Judgment
By: NICKY C. CARDENAS

FLOW OF PRESENTATION

OBJECTIVES:
Meaning of Art Deconstruction
Kant's Life Background
Kant's Aesthetic Judgment
Problems/Issues
Critique on Kant's Aesthetics

Vania Zouravliov

Deconstruction of Art? Or
Destruction of Art?

Kant
Immanuel Kant, 1724~1804
22 April 1724 --Knigsberg in
East Prussia ( after 1945,
Kaliningrad)
12 February 1804 (aged 79)
--Knigsberg
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Experience of Kant:
the University of Knigsberg

16 1740 : student in University,

studied science, mathematics, philosophy
31 1755 : lecturer on logic,
metaphysics, natural science, physical
geography, mathematics.
46 1770 : Professor of logic and
metaphysics
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His Mark: Kantianism,

enlightenment philosophy
His Major: Epistemology,
Metaphysics, Ethics, Logic
His Concept: Categorical imperative,
Transcendental Idealism,
Synthetic a priori, Noumenon
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Immanuel Kant
(1724-1804)
Immanuel Kants
analysis of aesthetic
judgments is found in
the first part of the
third critique in the
Critique of Judgment
(1790).
How can aesthetic
judgments be
universally valid?

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4 questions that make up the domain of

philosophy:
What can I know? Developed from 1st
Critique and is concerned about judgment
(theoretical philosophy);

1.

2.

What should I do? Developed from 2nd

Critique. This is the critique of practical
reason (practical philosophy). It is the
application/discovery of the laws of human
freedom. It is reason in its practical use
(nothing but our will or what is known as
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faculty of desire);

4 questions that make up the domain of

philosophy:
3. For what may I hope?
Questionable of 3rd Critique?
4. What is man? (which is
answered the above three).
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Aesthetic Judgments (aesthetics of taste) Have 4

Aspects (moments):

4. Modality or
Necessary
Pleasure

1. Quantity or
Disinterested
Pleasure

3. Relation or the Form

2. Quality or Universal Pleasure
of Purposiveness
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Critique of Aesthetic Judgment

By: Immanuel Kant 1790
Translated by: J.C. Meredith 1911

Art in general: facere-making nature

and its product- opus (work), agereacting/operating and its product is

effectus (operation).
Art: freedom-autonomy of the will
vs. handicraft
Art: ability, practical, technique
vs. Science: knowledge and theoretical
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Kant: Fine Art

Kinds of Pleasure: 1) Agreeable Art;

2) Fine Art
Sensation vs. Cognition
Agreeable Arts: glasses are wine glasses,

decorations, background music,

entertainment.

Fine Art: intrinsic purpose, development of

social communication, universal

communicability (refelection vs. sensation)

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Kant's Paradox for Art

Product of fine art is art not nature.
Product of fine art is free from
constraint of arbitrary rules as if it
is a product of nature.
But, nature is beautiful when it wore
art.
Art being beautiful requires
consciousness of being art yet with
appearance of nature.
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Elucidation of
explanation of Genius
It is the Art of Genius.
But Kant does not say each

particular work of art must show

genius.

Art-Purpose-Rules.
Fine Art: faculties- imagination

and understanding
Originality produces nonsense.

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The Relation of Genius to

Taste
Taste judges form.
Form is not a matter of inspiration or

mental powers but a painful process

of improvement.

Fine Art: faculties- imagination and

understanding
Originality produces nonsense.
Taste is critical and genius is
productive, they often diverge.

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The SUBLIME
1) Mathematically Sublime
2) Dynamically Sublime
In the case of both notions, the
experience of the sublime consists in a
feeling of the superiority of our own
power of reason, as a supersensible
faculty, over nature (28, 261).
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Issues/Problems
1) Imagination vs Understanding
2) Logical Judgments vs.

Aesthetics
3) Aesthetics vs. Morality

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Issues/Problems
1) Imagination vs Understanding
2) Logical Judgments vs.

Aesthetics
3) Aesthetics vs. Morality

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Critique on Kant's
Aesthetics?

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THANK YOU
VERY MUCH!!!

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