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212352

Esthetics

Aleksei Losev

pp. 200-219

Abstract

Esthetics (from the Greek αίσθητικóς, sensible) is the philosophical discipline having as its object the domain of expressive form of any sphere of reality (including the artistic), given as an independent and directly perceptible value. The term "esthetics' was first used by Baumgarten (Aesthetica, Bd. 1–2, Fr/M., 1750–1758) to designate the 'science of sensible knowledge" which, as an "inferior theory of knowledge" (gnoseologia inferior), was to complement the logic of Wolff. It was in this sense that Kant called it the science of "the rules of sensibility (Sinnlichkeit) in general" (a meaning preserved even in Husserl"s works). However, along with this meaning derived from Baumgarten, there is the other use of "esthetics' to designate the philosophy of artistic creativity — a definition reinforced by Hegel's Lectures on Esthetics.

Publication details

Published in:

Blakeley Thomas J (1975) Themes in Soviet Marxist philosophy: selected articles from the "Filosofskaja Enciklopedija". Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 200-219

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-1873-9_11

Full citation:

Losev Aleksei (1975) „Esthetics“, In: T.J. Blakeley (ed.), Themes in Soviet Marxist philosophy, Dordrecht, Springer, 200–219.