Aristotle and Kant Flashcards
Aristotle Life details -life span -origon -Language -wealth -teacher
- Rough Dates: 384 BCE - 322 BCE
- Country of Origin: Greece
- Language: Greek
- Born wealthy
- Was taught under Plato
Aristotle view on Art
He believed art could exist for art’s sake, despite his teacher Plato saying otherwise
Aristotle : Poetry
causes, lying deep in Our nature, first the instinct of imitation; second harmony & rhythm.
Aristotle : How’s tragedy play in here?
Tragedy plays a part in this because we like to reproduce situations that evoke strong emotions and purge our feelings
We may enjoy it because of the element of excitement and how it takes us away from our reality
Aristotle : Human’s tragic dimension
we have capacity for great qualities but don’t take full advantage of it
Aristotle : What is catharsis?
Catharsis is the purging of emotions - a type of release or satisfaction typically coming at the end of a tragic play
Kant
- life span
- origon
- Language
- work
Rough Dates: 18th Century (1724 - 1804)
- Country of Origin: Germany
- Language: German
- Wrote Critique of Judgement (shorty after the French and American revolution)
Kant-life background
Mother died when he was 13, father died when he was 22
Supported his sisters financially as a tutor of wealthy families (for 9 years), and didn’t go to college yet
Eventually finished his education and then became a professor at age 46
Described as very short but with a huge head
No close friends, marriages, or affairs but still a cheerful life
Possibly OCD, and definitely a hypochondriac
Died at age 80
Kant’s Critique of Judgment.
BOOK
Kant: What is the experience of beauty? How is it different from other experiences?
A feeling of beauty is brought on by just experiencing the art, whether listening or looking at it; there’s nothing else running through your head about the art at that time, and it’s a profound feeling.
what is interest?
Interest is when you have some preconceived notion or bias towards something. You’re trying to get something out of it
the castle
Castles are usually seen as a symbol of royalty, which gives off a preconceived pleasant feeling. A feeling of beauty may be that the castle is actually just gorgeous to look at. A bias would be if you’re remembering all the architecture used in building the castle, or what happened historically in that castle, or how awesome/awful it would be to live in that castle.
the apple
Looking at the apple may give a feeling of beauty. Good is that the apple is nutritional for you. Pleasant is that you may be hungry and the apple tastes good.
the kitty portrait
If the prof has a picture of his cat and asks you to look at it, telling you about his cat and it’s life story, you’ll have a bias. If he asks you “isn’t this beautiful?” He’s making you have an interest, and therefore you cannot have an experience of beauty. The owner of the cat/painting has a bias and an interest in that painting because of his emotional attachment to the cat. You can still have a feeling of beauty looking at the image later if you can get the extra information out of your head first.
the cell phone
looking at it may be a feeling beauty because it is shiny and cool looking. Good is that the phone is useful to you. Pleasant is that you can entertain yourself using it.
“All interest presupposes or generates a want, and, as the determining ground of assent, it leaves the judgement about the object no longer free”
Interest > want > bias > no experience of beauty
If the exp. of beauty is disinterested, how can you describe it?
Momentary transcendence, doesn’t need a reason
How are good [for] and pleasant different from beauty with regard to interest?
Good is a practical sense of enjoyment/ an ethical moment while pleasant gives you a nice feeling or satisfaction, ex) a back scratch.
Beauty is just how we feel when we see something that lets us think nothing other than “wow, that’s really beautiful” without figuring out why we think it’s so great.
Purpose
utility
Purposiveness
design/composition
Taste needs a mixture of charms and emotions in order that there may be satisfaction
I think he’s saying that need charms and emotions is a barbaric thing to want
the experience of everything coming together is compared to…and why?
hip-hop
it is a flow that is intrinsic with composition quality and the gift, the narrative isn’t important but the sound is amazing and something you cannot teach
what is a judgement of taste on which charm and emotion have no influence?
a pure judgement of taste
What are we responding to in beautiful things?
we are conscious it is art and not nature.
you are hearing and seeing something
“Beauty is the form of the purposiveness of an object so far as this is perceived in it without any representation of a purpose “
Is emotional response – happy, sad, consoled, romantic, charmed, — likely to be a channel to disinterested satisfaction or a distraction for Kant?
It is a distraction. Because you made some sort of tie to the artwork that made it not disinterested and therefore there was a reaction.
Is experiencing perfection the same as experiencing beauty? why, why not?
Perfection is a bias because in order for something to be perfect we need to know what the ideal state for that thing is or is not.
Where, for K, is beauty?
In the one on one experience, not in the object.
The logic of subjective universality beauty
The experience of beauty HAPPENS. no rules, no formula. it is a valid, singular feeling stimulated by sense perception. If it happens, it is real – can’t be faked. So, if everything were exactly the same for another person, they, it follows, would experience it also. [However, we know from experience that that rarely happens, except perhaps in highly controlled environments - museums, concert halls]….
Paradox…
Subjective does not mean opinion but rather that it is happening inside your head
Universality: everybody (therefore this is a paradox)
What is the universality
Human nature, common sense
How are good and pleasant different with regard to universality?
“As regards to the pleasant, therefore, the fundamental proposition is valid: everyone has his own taste (the taste of sense” (page 128)
““Roses in general are beautiful” , is no longer described simply as aesthetical, but a logical judgement based on an aesthetical one” (page 129)
beauty and form
The beautiful in nature is connected with the form of the object and has definite boundaries.
sublime and form
The sublime is to be found in a formless object and boundlessness is represented.
Sublime
feeling, not logical conclusion but employs reason, not disinterested and responding to something that is not concrete, outdoor, solitary
Beauty and purposiveness
beauty has a purposiveness
sublime and purposiveness
sublime violates purposes
emotional boundlessness
Boundlessness makes you feel good rather than insignificant. Like, “wow there’s so much ocean out there” vs. “there’s so much ocean out there it’ll probably swallow me up and I’m probably not really going to affect it at all anyway”
