About this item
Highlights
- The book aims at a new exposition of the basic idea of modern aesthetics by way of a reconstruction of its genesis in the 18th century, between Baumgarten's Aesthetics and Kant's Critique of Judgment.
- About the Author: Christoph Menke is Professor of Philosophy at the Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt am Main.
- 160 Pages
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Description
About the Book
Force is the attempt of reading modern aesthetics as a theory of "force." It does so by showing that modern philosophy begins twice in aesthetics - in two different, even opposite forms: as an aesthetic of the subject and its "faculties" and as an experience and theory of force, which conceives the aesthetic as a play of imagination. Force defines the aesthetic nature of the human, as distinct from the culture of socially acquired practices. "Force" is the concept of a difference - the difference between nature and culture, humanity and subjectivity, play and practice - that makes freedom possible. "The last word of aesthetics is human freedom."Book Synopsis
The book aims at a new exposition of the basic idea of modern aesthetics by way of a reconstruction of its genesis in the 18th century, between Baumgarten's Aesthetics and Kant's Critique of Judgment. The claim is that the historical invention of aesthetics was not about expanding the range of legitimate objects of philosophical inquiry--these objects all existed before aesthetics. Rather, aesthetics, by introducing the category of the "aesthetic," fundamentally redefined these objects. But most importantly, the reconstruction of the historical genesis of aesthetics shows that the introduction of the category of the "aesthetic" required nothing less than a transformation of the fundamental terms of philosophy. What begins in--or as--aesthetics is modern philosophy.
Review Quotes
Continental philosophers working in the area of aesthetics will find this book to be of great interest. Menke's study is brief, but compelling and highly learned-- a welcome addition to the scholarship. . Recommended.-- "--Choice"
"Force is an outstanding study of the philosophical, ethical and political underpinnings of modern aesthetics and an important and original contribution to contemporary debates about the fate of modernity, philosophy, and the arts."-----Paola Marrati, The Johns Hopkins University
"Menke forcefully makes the point that with the emergence of aesthetics in the eighteenth century, philosophy, and its understanding of itself, underwent a radical change."-----Rodolphe Gasché, University of Buffalo, SUNY
About the Author
Christoph Menke is Professor of Philosophy at the Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt am Main. Among his previous appointments has been a stint at the New School. Gerrit Jackson studied literature, philosophy, and art history in Berlin and New York. He is a translator and lives in Berlin.