Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2016, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (1): 177-182.

• Studies in Western Literary Theory • Previous Articles     Next Articles

On the Aesthetic Significance of Kant's Concept of Schema

Su Hongbin   

  1. Zhejiang University (Hangzhou 310028, China)
  • Online:2016-01-25 Published:2017-09-22
  • About author:Su Hongbin is a professor in Zhejiang University (Hangzhou 310028, China), with main research interests in literary theory and aesthetics.

Abstract: Schema is an important concept in Kant's philosophy, but Kant delimited it to the territory of epistemology. This paper argues that schema is also an important aesthetic concept. Schema is grasped through intuitive activities, and it follows that schema has certain aesthetic value. Schema is an object of aesthetic activity, but most often it also participates indirectly in aesthetic activities as the source of artistic images. The homogeneity between cognitive schema and aesthetic schema shows the homology of cognitive activities and aesthetic activities.

Key words: schema, imagination, essential intuition