Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.21464/mo.31.2.9
A different approach to art in Kant’s third Critique
Iris Vidmar Jovanović
orcid.org/0000-0003-3780-6457
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Rijeka, Croatia
*
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The aim here is to offer an interpretation of Kant’s theory of art, according to which the value of art does not lie solely in the aesthetics experience of beauty it offers in light of its formal features, but primarily in its impact on human sociability and moral sensibility. This interpretation is incompatible with some traditional ones, primarily those that see Kant’s theory as a formalist one, those that claim that Kant defends an ‘art for art’s sake doctrine and those that ignore the particular social character of art. Against such interpretations, we argue that, on Kant’s account in the third Critique, art inspires not only a sense of beauty, but sociability among the audience and a reflection that results in some kind of moral insight. This account enables us to ground the cultural and educational value of art which is not only more compatible with Kant’s writings, but can help us understand the particular manner in which art contributes to our humanity, which formalist accounts can’t do.
Keywords
Immanuel Kant; sociability; formalism; expression; art
Hrčak ID:
331667
URI
Publication date:
20.5.2025.
Visits: 603 *