Aesthetics (On the Boundary of Two Worlds: Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics, 8)

Though written many years earlier, Lithuanian philosopher Sesemann's (1884-1963) introduction to aesthetics was published only in 1970, in Lithuanian. Donskis offers an introduction that puts it in the context of Lithuanian and Eastern European philosophy, and explains his methods of analysis. Among the topics are the beauty of time, the problem of artistic creativity, a historical survey of aesthetic theories, and the classification of types of art. Only names are indexed. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) AESTHETICS Table of Contents Editor’s Introduction: Mapping Inter-War Lithuanian Philosophy Acknowledgments PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Aesthetics: Definition and Object 2. Difficulties for Aesthetics A. The Criterion of Beauty B. Aesthetics and Living Art C. The Peculiarity of Aesthetic Experience 3. Immediate Aesthetic Perception—the Material Basis of Aesthetics PART II: METHODS 1. The Optimal Starting Point: Nature or Art? 2. Three Starting Points for Aesthetic Analysis A. The Artist-Creator B. The Viewer (Listener) C. The Work of Art Itself PART III: THE ANALYSIS OF AN AESTHETIC OBJECT 1. The Essential Properties of Aesthetic Perception A. Aesthetic Perception and the Feeling of Pleasure B. The Significance of the Mind-Set for the Perception of an Aesthetic Object C. Examples Poetic Language Visual Art Music 2. The Internal Structure of an Aesthetic Object A. The Unity of an Aesthetic Object B. The Components of an Aesthetic Object C. The Significance of the Dominant D. Static and Genetic Unit E. The Aspects of an Aesthetic Object and the Problem of Space in Visual Art F. The Problem of Time in Art 3. The Expressiveness of an Aesthetic Object and its Objective Sense A. Introduction B. The Objectivity of Aesthetic Feelings C. The Traditional Theory of Analogy and its Criticism D. The Theory of Empathy and its Criticism E. How the Expressiveness of an Aesthetic Object is to be Explained Intuition is an Act of Understanding The Initial Expressiveness of this Act of Understanding The Significance of the Act of Empathy The Inner Dynamism of Aesthetic Impressions (Vitality) The Relation of Aesthetic Expressiveness to the Contemplative Attitude Invigoration Mental Infection and its Forms. Echoic Ceelings Artistic Acts of Re-Creation. Dramatic Acting (Reincarnation) The Relation of the Sensory Image to the Objective Meaning 4. Aesthetic Form and Aesthetic Structure A. Introduction B. Visible and Tangible Forms. Their Organizational Significance C. The Relation between Form and Matter D. The Generalized Significance of Form. Structure E. Form and Content (Subject) F. Examples: Theatre and Film G. Relativization of Form. Hierarchy of Forms H. Aesthetic Form and the Individuality of the Work of Art I. The Concept of Style J. Style and Imitation of Nature PART IV: THE BEAUTY OF NATURE 1. The Relations of Natural and Artistic Beauty with Respect to Origin 2. The Aesthetic Criterion of Natural and Artistic Beauty is the Same 3. The Conception of Nature’s Beauty in The History of European Culture. The Beauty of Wild Nature 4. The Beauty of Organic Forms 5. Human Beauty. Its Ideal 6. Organic Beauty and the Sexual Instinct 7. Beauty and Ugliness. Their Relation in Art 8. The Peculiarity of Natural Beauty A. Nature, Beauty’s Potential B. The Reality of Nature’s Beauty C. The Significance of this Reality D. How Should We Understand the Reality of Natural Beauty? PART V: THE ORIGIN OF ART 1. The Relation of Primitive Art to Other Areas of Culture 2. Attempts to Derive the Origin of Art from General Psychological Principles. Criticism 3. Stimuli for the Emergence of Representational Art A. The Imitative Instinct B. Play (Free Motor Activity) 4. The Origin of Music 5. General Conclusions 6. The Artist and the Child (Primitive Man) PART VI: THE PROBLEM OF ARTISTIC CREATIVITY 1. A General Characterization of the Creative Process 2. The Creative Process: Three Basic Moments A. Inner Excitation B. The Emergence of the Artistic Idea C. The Realization of the Idea 3. Creative Imagination A. The Function of the Imagination in Sensory Perception B. The Connection of the Imagination to Thinking and Memory C. Imagination and Motor Activity (Play) D. Inventiveness (Creative Originality) E. Dynamic Tension (Dramatism) F. Creative Imagination and the Mechanism of Associations G. The Role of Abstraction in Creativity Abstraction in Initial Perceptual and Recollective Acts. Natural Symbols Natural Symbols in Representational Art Abstraction in Music and Archiecture Abstraction in Poetry. Conventional Symbols and Meaning-Connected Feelings PART VII: THE HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT OF ART AND THE FACTORS UNDERLYING IT 1. The Problem: Formulation and Explication 2. Taine's "Milieu Theory" and its Critical Appraisal 3. The Phychological Theory of " Numbing" abd its Critique 4. The Relation of the Artist's Individuality and Creativity to the Cultural Environment 5. The Relation of the Development of Art to General Cultural Development 6. The Historical Changing of Styles and the Theories Explaining it A. The Styles of Youth, Maturity, and Old Age B. The Archaic, Classical, and Baroque Stages in the Evolution of Style C. Is this Schema Associated with the Predominance of a Specific Art Form? D. Does this Schema Apply to the Development of Music and Art? E. Constitutive Elements of Representational Art: Tectonicity, Plasticity, Painterliness, Ornamentality, and their Interrelations F. Theories Recognizing the Evolution of Art as a Process in One Direction G. Theories Grounding the Evolution of Art in the Periodic Alternation of Styles H. In What Sense Can We Speak of Artistic Progress? PART VIII: THE RELATIONS OF BEAUTY TO OTHER CULTURAL VALUES. THE ROLE OF ART IN CULTURAL LIFE 1. Introduction 2 Beauty and Morality A. The Relation Between the Aesthetic and the Ethical Viewpoint B. The Neutrality of the Aesthetic Attitude Toward Ethical Values C. Example: Tragicality D. Art and Tendentiousness E. Art and the Love of Being F. Example: Comicalitiy 3. Art (Beauty) and Truth A. The Problem Formulated B. Theoretical Truth C. The Formal Truth of Art D. The Material Tuth of Art The Subjective Aspect The Objective Aspect The Genuineness of Emotive Expression The Reality of Objective Pepresentation What is Fantasticality? Aesthetic Reality PART IX: HISTORIAL SURVEY OF AESTHETIC THEORIES 1. The Aesthetic of the Ancient Greeks A. Introduction B. Kalokagatia C. The Sophists. Plato D. Neoplatonism. Aristotle 2. Relationalist Aesthetics in France and Germany A. Boileau. Buffon B. Leibniz. Baumgarten. Sulzer 3. The Empiricist Aesthetics of the English A. Shaftesbury B. Home and Burke 4. The Aesthetics of Kant 5. Vico 6. German Idealist Aesthetics: Schelling, Hegel, Schopenhauer 7. The Formalists. Fechner 8. Contemporary Aesthetic Theories A. Theories Proceeding from the Art Work (Object) B. Phenomenological Aesthetics C. Theories Proceeding from the Perceiving Subject D. Theories Proceeding from the Creative Subject E. Metaphysical Aesthetics F. Sociological Theories G. Marxist Aesthetics PART X: THE CLASSIFICATION OF TYPES OF ART 1. Problem 2. The Relation of the Art Work to the Subject. Optical and Acoustic Impressions: Their Difference 3. Spatial and Nonspatial Forms of Art 4. Objective and Nonobjective Forms of Art 5. Representational and Nonrepresentational Art Notes Index This work by Lithuania's most important philosopher Vasily Sesemann (1884-1963) is a European classic. Having been published in Lithuanian for the first time in 1970 (though written much earlier) it has now finally become accessible to an international public. Sesemann's Aesthetics is not only an extremely useful introduction to the discipline of aesthetics; it also engages in stimulating analyses of a whole range of subjects that remain of interest for the contemporary reader. Sesemann explains in a clear and systematic way almost all problems linked to aesthetic production and perception, providing inquiries into, for example, philosophical problems of space, tectonicity in architecture, and film. Sesemann's personal philosophical vision of aesthetic experience as well as of the ambiguity of aesthetic form makes this book a must for specialists in German and Eastern European interwar philosophy as well as in Russian Formalism. At the same time, it is an inspiring source for all people who are interested in art, its interpretation, and the relation between aesthetics and art history. Thorsten Botz-Bornstein, the author of Vasily Experience, Formalism, and the Question of Being (Amsterdam/New Rodopi, 2006) Published in Lithuanian for the first time in 1970, this work is an introduction to the discipline of aesthetics. It explains various problems linked to aesthetic production and perception, providing inquiries into, for example, philosophical problems of space, tectonicity in architecture, and film.