Immanuel Kant's Investigation into the Beautiful and the Sublime and Its Theoretical Provisions

Abstract

Abstract: Immanuel Kant's theoretical investigation into the beautiful and the sublime is embodied in his theoretical construction of Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime and Critique of Judgment. Through practical anthropology and critical philosophy, the inherent differences in Kant's early and late aesthetic thought on these concepts can be revealed. Such differences profoundly reveal the distinction between axiological provisions based on the empirical principle and epistemological provisions based on the transcendental principle. In this way, Kant reveals that the beautiful and the sublime are not only positive to the judgement of aesthetic value in national cultural life, but also normative to the construction of pure aesthetic theory and the exploration of aesthetic relations. Therefore, according to Kant, enduring theoretical attention to the two concepts is necessary for aesthetics.

Key words: Immanuel Kant, the beautiful, gender, the sublime, morality

Li Puman. Immanuel Kant's Investigation into the Beautiful and the Sublime and Its Theoretical Provisions[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(6): 211-220.

References

埃德蒙·柏克:《关于我们崇高与优美观念之根源的哲学探讨》,郭飞译。郑州:大象出版社,2010年。
[Burke, Edmund. A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful. Trans. Guo Fei. Zhengzhou: Elephant Press, 2010.]
曹俊峰:《康德美学引论》。天津:天津教育出版社,2012年。
[Cao, Junfeng. An Introduction to Kant's Aesthetics. Tianjin: Tianjin Education Publishing House, 2012.]
邓晓芒:《康德〈判断力批判〉释义》。北京:生活·读书·新知三联书店,2008年。
[Deng, Xiaomang. An Interpretation of Kant's Critique of Judgment. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2008.]
Guyer, Paul. Kant and the Experience of Freedom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Höffe, Otfried. Immanuel Kant. München: C.H. Beck Verlag, 1983.
Kant, Immanuel. Beobachtungen Über das Gefühl des Schönen und Erhabenen. Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag, 1991.
伊曼纽尔·康德:《论优美感和崇高感》,何兆武译。北京:商务印书馆,2001年。
[———. Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime. Trans. He Zhaowu. Beijing: The Commercial Press, 2001.]
——:《判断力批判》,邓晓芒译。北京:人民出版社,2002年。
[———. Critique of Judgment. Trans. Deng Xiaomang. Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2002.]
——:《实用人类学》,邓晓芒译。上海:上海人民出版社,2005年。
[———. Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View. Trans. Deng Xiaomang. Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2005.]
Kirwan, James. The Aesthetic in Kant. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004.
Loose, Donald. The Sublime and its Teleology. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2011.
Menke, Christoph. Kraft: Ein Grundbegriff ästhetischer Anthropologie. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2008.
Rayman, Joshua. Kant on Sublimity and Morality. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2012.
Rogerson, Kenneth F. The Problem of Free Harmony in Kant's Aesthetics. New York: University of New York Press, 2008.
Schaper, Eva. “Taste, Sublimity and Genius: the Aesthetics of Nature and Art.” The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Ed. Paul Guyer. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.367-392.
Schiller, Friedrich. Theoretische Schriften. Köln: Könemann Verlag, 1999.

[1]	Liu Xi, Yu Xuying. New Views of Subjectivity and Gender Informed by New Ontology： A Study of the Genealogy of Posthuman Feminism [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(3): 130-139.
[2]	Liu Qinghai. The Development of Yanzhi,Yuanqing, Wendaoguan: The Essence of Literature According to Dugu Ji, Liang Su, and Quan Deyu [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2022, 42(3): 162-173.
[3]	Ma Xiaoyuan. Edmund Husserl and Immanuel Kant under the Postmodern Condition: Jean-François Lyotard’s Theory of Aesthetic Reflection [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2022, 42(2): 109-116.
[4]	Jiang Haowei. The Political Ethics of Aestheticism: “Beauty” and “Virtue” in Wang Guowei’s Early Poetics and Thoughts [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2022, 42(2): 166-174.
[5]	Li Zhenling, Ha Jin. Where Are We and What to Write?: An Interview with Professor Ha Jin [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2022, 42(1): 106-113.
[6]	Yuan Xianpo. The Artistic Field during the Yongle-Xuande Reign the Ming Dynasty and the Writing of the Ministerial Style [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(6): 93-101.
[7]	Guo Xiaolei. A la Recherche du Temps Perdu: Enlightenment on "Hatred" and "Love" [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(5): 167-175.
[8]	Chen Rong. Feminist Perspectives on Gender and the Sublime [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(4): 98-108.
[9]	Chen Chen. “Asked of Everyone as if a Duty”: On Immanuel Kant’s Question about the Idea of a Common Sense [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(4): 117-128.
[10]	Chen Caixun. On the Relationship between the Morality Advocating Campaign in the Qing Dynasty and Popular Novels [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2021, 41(1): 93-104.
[11]	Wang Qi. On Jean-Luc Nancy's Reinterpretation of the Sublime [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2020, 40(6): 204-211.
[12]	Ling Chenguang. On the Perspectives of Gender Representation and Ethical Contradiction in Women's Self-Portraits [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2020, 40(5): 168-178.
[13]	Xu Xianliang. A Reinvestigation of Kant's Concept of "Interesse": A Reinterpretation of the Chief Element of the Power of Judgment [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2018, 38(5): 50-57.
[14]	Ma Xiaoyuan. Aesthetic Freedom and Ethical Obligation: A Review of the Construction of Lyotard's Theory of the Sublime [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2018, 38(5): 69-76.
[15]	Zhang Chenghua. The Influence of Gender Theory on Women Studies and Its Debates [J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2017, 37(2): 141-147.