| Phi 220 Spring 2016 |
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Although beauty is the focus of Kant’s aesthetics, he discusses a number of other issues, several of which were quite important for the aesthetic theories that came after him. One is the nature of the “sublime.” Although this and related terms had been used since antiquity to refer to elevation in the style of art or greatness in its subject matter, the 18th century brought a significantly different usage, and that is what we will be discussing. Several of the early examples of this usage concern the effect (especially on English travelers) of seeing the Alps, and you can find other references to nature and natural phenomena in both Burke and Kant.
When reading the selections from Burke and Kant on the handout, you should aim to understand three distinctions.
• Kant’s distinction between the beautiful and the sublime (see especially the selections from §23 on the handout, p. 9, and from the “General remark,” on the handout, pp. 14-16).
• Kant’s distinction between the mathematical and dynamical sublime (see the selections from §§24-28 on the handout, pp. 10-14).
• the difference between Burke’s and Kant’s views. Of course, Kant’s comments in the “General remark” are important here, but also look for ways of comparing Burke and Kant beyond the ones Kant notes.
Notice that the emphasis here is on Kant, and you will probably not need to do more than skim the selections from Burke. The point of those is threefold: to give you a sense of a typical 18th century view of the sublime before reading Kant’s account of it, to provide an example of a position which contrasts with Kant’s in something like the way Hume’s view on beauty does, and to supply some background for Kant’s discussion of Burke’s views.