The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 1 (of 4): Hegel's AesthetikHegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Philosophy
The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 1 (of 4): Hegel's Aesthetik
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Aesthetics
[Footnote 224: _Unseres Verstandes._ We supply the notion of
intelligent purpose.]
[Footnote 225: That is, the assumed subordination of all organs to one
definite end.]
[Footnote 226: _Sichbewegens._ The emphasis is of course on the self.
But even then the statement is rather an excess. For it seems difficult
to attribute all the beauty visible in the spontaneous movements of so
many living creatures, notably that of birds, to their purely formal
character. At least there is something given by such motion analogous
to the impression we receive from music and the dance; they are
_gesetzmässig_ in short.]
[Footnote 227: _Zufällig_--capricious as opposed to a uniform
principle. There is, however, one apparent bond of external similarity,
between the majority of such members, namely, their covering of skin;
this not merely relates the cheek to the neck, for example, but to some
extent destroys the distinction.]
[Footnote 228: Physical parts, that is to say.]
[Footnote 229: That is to say, it is based on a purely limited
experience which does not necessarily concern the true nature of the
objects perceived.]
[Footnote 230: _Stangen._ The word may express the branches on which
the flowers are carried or the stamens they carry at their apex.]
[Footnote 231: _Geistreich_, "intelligent," _i.e._, an ingenious way of
regarding such facts.]
[Footnote 232: _Dies wunderbare Wort._]
[Footnote 233: The use of the word _Sinn_ to which Hegel here alludes
is not quite identical with our word _Sense._ In the English use
of the term there is more stress on the _materia_ presented to
sense-perception and perhaps less reference to intellect when the word
is employed in such an expression as "That man has sense." However,
Milton has "What surmounts the reach of human sense," and no doubt both
are employed very similarly in many writers.]
[Footnote 234: _Bleibt bei der Ahnung._]
[Footnote 235: _Naiver Weise_, a common epithet of Hegel to denote
freedom from all philosophical prepossessions, a frank and simple
attitude of reception.]
[Footnote 236: _Betrachtung_ appears to imply in its contrast with
_Anschauung_ the presence of that intuitive sense or imaginative
co-ordination above discussed.]
[Footnote 237: _Gestaltende Macht_, _i.e._, plastic force.]
[Footnote 238: This account of the criterium to be adopted in
determining beauty in the animal creation is open to some criticism.
Mobility is no doubt one element of beauty, but it is only one.
Professor Bosanquet points out in his criticism of the passage ("Hist,
of Aesthetik," p. 338) that it amounts to the assertion that ugliness
is purely relative. The defect is not only due, it seems to me, to
Hegel's insufficient regard for Nature as a modern painter would so
regard it, but it may be traced also to his manifest preference for
motion in all the manifestations of Nature.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account