The Aesthetics of Ethical Subjectivity [microform] : Ethics and Aesthetics in the Work of Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche and Theodor Adorno

The Aesthetics of Ethical Subjectivity [microform] : Ethics and Aesthetics in the Work of Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche and Theodor Adorno PDF Author: Tanja Mirjana Juric
Publisher: Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
ISBN: 9780494029091
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
This project examines the effect that aesthetic reflection can have on the formation of ethical subjects and the development of reciprocal relations between individuals. In particular, it investigates whether aesthetic judgement, precisely because it encourages the development of a critically self-reflexive subject, provides a valuable model for ethics. Theodor Adorno's dialectical approach, on the other hand, interprets the subject as intersubjectively developed, which acknowledges the importance of reciprocal relations with others. Adorno's constant reference to the generic subject and object, however, does not differentiate between various types of subjects and objects and their relationships and in so doing, threatens to negate the agency of individuals. In order for Adorno's approach to be a viable means through which ethical subjectivity can be formulated, it needs to be able to acknowledge that ethical interaction occurs between socially embedded individuals because it is through these relationships that individuals can be challenged and exercise their agency as ethical subjects. The groundwork for this investigation is laid by Immanuel Kant who depicts the individual as an autonomous, rational agent that is capable of, and indeed responsible for, determining his or her own judgement. Kant's insight regarding the autonomy of the subject enables him to create a system of ethics that is upheld by imperatives, which he argues command respect because they are universally valid for all rational beings. Friedrich Nietzsche and Theodor Adorno build upon Kant's claim concerning the subject's autonomy to put forward two very different interpretations of what it means to be or become an ethical subject. Nietzsche encourages individuals to create or shape their identity as highly individualised, dynamic subjects akin to living works of art, rather than universalised and disembodied subjects. Nietzsche's emphasis on the subject's flourishing and growth provides important insights into the formation of oneself as an ethical subject, but it provides little in terms of recognising and developing reciprocal, ethical relations with others.

The Aesthetics of Ethical Subjectivity [microform] : Ethics and Aesthetics in the Work of Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche and Theodor Adorno

The Aesthetics of Ethical Subjectivity [microform] : Ethics and Aesthetics in the Work of Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche and Theodor Adorno PDF Author: Tanja Mirjana Juric
Publisher: Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
ISBN: 9780494029091
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 312

Get Book

Book Description
This project examines the effect that aesthetic reflection can have on the formation of ethical subjects and the development of reciprocal relations between individuals. In particular, it investigates whether aesthetic judgement, precisely because it encourages the development of a critically self-reflexive subject, provides a valuable model for ethics. Theodor Adorno's dialectical approach, on the other hand, interprets the subject as intersubjectively developed, which acknowledges the importance of reciprocal relations with others. Adorno's constant reference to the generic subject and object, however, does not differentiate between various types of subjects and objects and their relationships and in so doing, threatens to negate the agency of individuals. In order for Adorno's approach to be a viable means through which ethical subjectivity can be formulated, it needs to be able to acknowledge that ethical interaction occurs between socially embedded individuals because it is through these relationships that individuals can be challenged and exercise their agency as ethical subjects. The groundwork for this investigation is laid by Immanuel Kant who depicts the individual as an autonomous, rational agent that is capable of, and indeed responsible for, determining his or her own judgement. Kant's insight regarding the autonomy of the subject enables him to create a system of ethics that is upheld by imperatives, which he argues command respect because they are universally valid for all rational beings. Friedrich Nietzsche and Theodor Adorno build upon Kant's claim concerning the subject's autonomy to put forward two very different interpretations of what it means to be or become an ethical subject. Nietzsche encourages individuals to create or shape their identity as highly individualised, dynamic subjects akin to living works of art, rather than universalised and disembodied subjects. Nietzsche's emphasis on the subject's flourishing and growth provides important insights into the formation of oneself as an ethical subject, but it provides little in terms of recognising and developing reciprocal, ethical relations with others.

Problems of Moral Philosophy

Problems of Moral Philosophy PDF Author: Theodor W. Adorno
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780804739368
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
These 17 lectures given in 1963 focus largely on Kant, a thinker in whose work the question of morality is most sharply contrasted with other spheres of existence. After discussing a number of the Kantian categories of moral philosophy, Theodor W. Adorno considers other, seemingly more immediate general problems, such as the nature of moral norms, the good life, and the relation of relativism and nihilism. In the course of the lectures, Adorno addresses a wide range of topics, including: theory and practice; ethics as bad conscience; the repressive character; the problem of freedom; dialectics in Kant and Hegel; the nature of reason; the moral law as a given; psychoanalysis; the element of the Absurd; freedom and law; the Protestant tradition of morality; Hamlet; self-determination; phenomenology; the concept of the will; the idea of humanity; The Wild Duck; and Nietzsche's critique of morality.

The Semblance of Subjectivity

The Semblance of Subjectivity PDF Author: Tom Huhn
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262581769
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
The essays are organized around the twin themes of semblance and subjectivity. Whereas the concept of semblance, or illusion, points to Adorno's links with Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud, the concept of subjectivity recalls his lifelong struggle with a philosophy ofconsciousness stemming from Kant, Hegel, and Lukacs.

Art and Morality

Art and Morality PDF Author: José Luis Bermúdez
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000100766
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Featuring contributions from Matthew Kieran, Aaron Ridley, Roger Scruton and Mary Mothersill to name but a few, this collection of groundbreaking new papers on aesthetics and ethics, highlights the link between the two subjects. These leading figures tackle the important questions that arise when one thinks about the moral dimensions of art and the aesthetic dimension of moral life. The volume is a significant contribution to philosophical literature, opening up unexplored questions and shedding new light on more traditional debates in aesthetics. The topics explored include: the relation of aesthetic to ethical judgment the relation of artistic experience to moral consciousness the moral status of fiction the concepts of sentimentality and decadence the moral dimension of critical practice, pictorial art and music the moral significance of tragedy the connections between artistic and moral issues elaborated in the writings of central figures in modern philosophy, such as Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. The contributors share the view that progress in aesthetics requires detailed study of the practice of criticism. This volume will appeal to both the philosophical community and to researchers in areas such as literary theory, musicology and the theory of art.

Art and Ethics in a Material World

Art and Ethics in a Material World PDF Author: Jennifer A McMahon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134110537
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
In this book, McMahon argues that a reading of Kant’s body of work in the light of a pragmatist theory of meaning and language (which arguably is a Kantian legacy) leads one to put community reception ahead of individual reception in the order of aesthetic relations. A core premise of the book is that neo-pragmatism draws attention to an otherwise overlooked aspect of Kant’s "Critique of Aesthetic Judgment," and this is the conception of community which it sets forth. While offering an interpretation of Kant’s aesthetic theory, the book focuses on the implications of Kant’s third critique for contemporary art. McMahon draws upon Kant and his legacy in pragmatist theories of meaning and language to argue that aesthetic judgment is a version of moral judgment: a way to cultivate attitudes conducive to community, which plays a pivotal role in the evolution of language, meaning, and knowledge.

Forbidden Aesthetics, Ethical Justice, and Terror in Modern Western Culture

Forbidden Aesthetics, Ethical Justice, and Terror in Modern Western Culture PDF Author: Emmanouil Aretoulakis
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498513131
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Forbidden Aesthetics, Ethical Justice, and Terror in Modern Western Culture explores the subjective experience of the beautiful in the face of terror and human tragedy. Emmanouil Aretoulakis proposes that behind the horror, repulsion, and outrage felt by humanity before images of natural or man-made catastrophes/acts of terror(ism) throughout the centuries lurks a kind of inexplicable individual fascination which is closely connected to the Kantian idea of the disinterested judgement of the beautiful as well as the Burkean concept of delight before real catastrophe. At stake is an aesthetic experience of the beautiful, that most of us, eye witnesses or other, would not be willing to acknowledge due to the immorality of such a concession. That feeling which goes unacknowledged because improper is a forbidden feeling and the aesthetics connected with it is a forbidden aesthetics. The forbidden aesthetics Aretoulakis proposes is naturally dominant in representations of the par excellence terrorist event of the twenty-first century, 11 September 2001, but shows itself also in other catastrophic landmarks in history. For instance, the Hiroshima/Nagasaki nuclear bombing in 1945, or the 1755 Lisbon tsunami, both of which could be characterized, radically, as terrorist manifestations too, regardless of whether the former event took place in the context of a generalized war while the latter emerged as a symptom of natural terrorism, the terrorism of nature. This book will be of interest to philosophers who work on aesthetics and ethics and students in literary studies and psychology.

Adorno

Adorno PDF Author: J. M. Bernstein
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521003094
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
This book provides the first account in any language of the ethical theory latent in Adorno's writings.

The Powers of Sensibility

The Powers of Sensibility PDF Author: Michael Feola
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810137488
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
The Powers of Sensibility: Aesthetic Politics through Adorno, Foucault, and Rancière explores the role aesthetic resources can play in an emancipatory politics. Michael Feola engages both critical theory and unruly political movements to challenge familiar anxieties about the intersection of politics and aesthetics. He shows how perception, sensibility, and feeling may contribute vital resources for conceptualizing citizenship, agency, and those spectacles that increasingly define global protest culture. Feola provides insightful engagements with the works of Adorno, Foucault, and Rancière as well as a survey of contemporary debates on aesthetics and politics. He uses this aesthetic framework to develop a more robust account of political agency, demonstrating that politics is not reducible to the exchange of views or the building of institutions, but rather incorporates public modes of feeling, seeing, and hearing (or not-seeing and not-hearing). These sensory modes must themselves be transformed in the work of emancipatory politics. The book explores the core question: what does the aesthetic offer that is missing from the official languages of politics, citizenship, and power? Of interest to readers in the fields of critical theory, political theory, continental philosophy, and aesthetics, The Powers of Sensibility roots itself within the classical tradition of critical theory and yet uses these resources to speak to a variety of contemporary political movements.

The Persistence of Modernity

The Persistence of Modernity PDF Author: Albrecht Wellmer
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9780745605388
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
In this timely new book Wellmer intervenes in the highly topical debates on modernity and post-modernity. Discussing the work of Adorno, Habermas, Peter Burger and Jean-François Lyotard, among others, he offers a penetrating analysis of the aesthetic, ethical and philosophical dimensions of the modern era. In opposition to those who view post-modernity as a sign of post-enlightenment, Wellmer makes a reasoned plea for a re-examination of the goals of emancipatory Enlightenment and explores its implications for the appreciation of modern art forms.

Wittgenstein and the Problem of Metaphysics

Wittgenstein and the Problem of Metaphysics PDF Author: Michael Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350188735
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
Exploring the rupture between Wittgenstein's early and late phases, Michael Smith provides an original re-assessment of the metaphysical consistencies that exist throughout his divergent texts. Smith shows how Wittgenstein's criticism of metaphysics typically invoked the very thing he was seeking to erase. Taking an alternative approach to the inherent contradiction in his work, the 'problem of metaphysics', as Smith terms it, becomes the organizing principle of Wittgenstein's thought rather than something to overcome. This metaphysical thread enables further reflection on the poetic nature of Wittgenstein's philosophy as well as his preoccupation with ethics and aesthetics as important factors mostly absent from the secondary literature. The turn to aesthetics is crucial to a re-assessment of Wittgenstein's legacy, and is done in conjunction with an innovative analysis of Nietzsche's critique of Kantian aesthetics and Kant's 'judgments of taste'. The result is a unique discussion of the limits and possibilities of metaphysics, aesthetics, ethics and the task of the philosopher more generally.