Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Beauty, Sublimity, Super-Beauty

As original and exemplary, a work of artistic Genius can stimulate new ways of experiencing the world.  Such a work is not what Kant classifies as 'Beauty', since it does not harmonize with the cognitive faculties, but challenges them to develop in new ways.  Nor is it classifiable as his 'Sublime', since that characterization does not apply to Artworks, and the aim is not refuge in a super-natural realm, but a natural overcoming of human experience as is.  Accordingly, the term 'Super-Beauty' has been introduced here to classify such works, though without the established connotations, 'sublime' would be instructive.  So, the experience of Super-Beauty is stimulating, and whether or not that sensation is universally communicable, as Kant requires of the pleasure in the experience of Beauty, is irrelevant.  Instead, what is relevant is that unconventional modes of behavior be stimulated, perhaps even Supererogatory action.  So, Super-Beauty is beyond the scope of Kant's Aesthetic Theory, and, correspondingly, beyond the scope of his Moral doctrine.

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