Kant - Summary of Critique of Aesthetic Judgment

Précis for Immanuel Kant “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment.”

            “The judgment of taste is aesthetic.”  We determine the beauty of an object through the use of imagination and understanding, solely based on the object, and whether the object gives us pleasure or displeasure.  Determinations of likability are derived through interpretations and conceptual notions of the object, not the object itself.  Judgments on objects, to determine beauty, can be logical.  However, any judgments on the subject, or feelings we derive from an object, are always subjective.

            If one likes an object, then they have an interest in the object.  Interest means that one experiences delight from the object, or its reference.  In these instances, desire is at work and one’s judgment of beauty is compromised.  Desire is a primary human function that drives us to want things.  Our notions on beauty cannot be confused or tainted with want or gratification.  It is the difference between pleasing and gratifying.  One must “preserve complete indifference” to an object if they are to appropriately judge beauty.

            There are three kinds of pleasure.  The agreeable is what gratifies, the beautiful is what pleases, and the good is the determination of a things worth.  Worth can be in its use, or it can be attributed to the object itself.  To be beautiful, there first must be reflection of an object. There has to be some notion between a thing and the pleasure it inspires.  The agreeable is the individual’s desire revealed by the object.  To be clear, agreeable is not based on the object, but the feelings of want derived the object.  Good is the understanding of an object. and it is also considered an end concept.  To have an understanding of an object is to formalize the concept of an object.   At this point, beautiful is defined as, “delight or aversion apart from any interest” of the object. 

            To look upon something beautiful is look upon something without want or reason.  People will tend to talk about beauty as a “quality of the object” rather than their thoughts or feelings inspired by the object.  Universal subjective beauty is attained when all interest is removed from the object.  People have their own individual taste, and it is folly to argue over personal taste.  However, to call something beautiful means someone is speaking with a universal voice.  They are making a claim that an object will evoke the same pleasure in others as it does in them. This claim seeks validity through confirmation of others experiencing the same delight.  Again, to judge something as beautiful is to experience pleasure or displeasure without want, reason, or the formation of end concepts.

            Pure judgment of taste is “simply [a] finality of form,” and it is derived from a free play of imagination and understanding, with the absence of conceptual intent or desires of want.  An end is a concept of an object.  Finality, an “explanation of an objects possibility,” is like an end, but without the conceptual intent, or will, to determine the causality of the object.  Intent is replaced with the imagination and experience that forms understanding without the benefit of focused cognition.  In judging beauty, it is important to differentiate a pleasure experienced from the concept of a thing, an end, and the pleasure derived from the object itself.  There is, however, a causality that occurs with beauty. The nature of beauty manifests pleasure and a natural tendency of “preserving a continuance” of experiencing that beauty.  This process returns on itself and the beauty “strengthens and reproduces itself.”

            There is a distinction between form, the foundation of beauty, and charms that are added to a beauty.  Charms may include contrast, colors, tones and other elements that are not directly attributed to the design, or the composition of a beauty.  Again, finality for a beauty is derived from its form.  Charms are accepted as long as they do not change the beauty of an object. In essence, charms make the form easier to see through clarity and definition, and they excite and maintain the viewer’s gaze.

            Perfection is not relevant to beauty.  Perfection ascribes certain conditions and rules to establish something as perfect.  Conditions and rules are elements of cognition, recognition and concepts.  Concepts are an end and removed from the judgment of beauty.  Objects in nature, such as trees, flowers, and birds, have no intrinsic rules of perfection, and they please solely on their own account.  Objects of man have rules to formulate perfection.  If the rules are used to judge, then the object cannot be judged beautiful.  However, if a perfect object is judged solely on it’s pleasure without concepts, reason or desire, than it can be judged as beautiful.

            The final definition of beauty is: “Beauty is the form of finality in an object, so far as perceived in it apart form the representation of an end.”

            The dynamically sublime in nature is representative of something that hindrances something, but does not necessarily have dominion over them.  In other words, the dynamically sublime is an opposing force that people can overcome.  If we do not feel we are up to the task, then we fear the object. The might of the sublime overpowers our senses and displays human smallness in relation to nature.  In doing so, we become aware of our limitations.  However, when viewing art, the sublime still reveals our limitations, but there is no “seriousness of danger.”  We are free to engage the sublime while being in a position of safety.

Works Cited

Kant, Immanuel. Basic Writings of Kant. New York: Random House Publishing. 2001. Print