Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art Volume I [Paperback]

G. W. F. Hegel (Author), T. M. Knox (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198238169 | ISBN-13: 978-0198238164 | Publication Date: December 17, 1998

This is the first of two volumes of the only English edition of Hegel's Aesthetics, the work in which he gives full expression to his seminal theory of art. The substantial Introduction is his best exposition of his general philosophy of art. In Part I he considers the general nature of art as a spiritual experience, distinguishes the beauty of art and the beauty of nature, and examines artistic genius and originality. Part II surveys the history of art from the ancient world through to the end of the eighteenth century, probing the meaning and significance of major works. Part III (in the second volume) deals individually with architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and literature; a rich array of examples makes vivid his exposition of his theory.

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About the Author

G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) is one of the great figures in the history of Western thought, and the most important philosopher of his time. He spent his life in his native Germany, elaborating an enormously ambitious and broad-ranging philosophical system which has exerted a continuing influence on European and Anglo-American philosophy. Sir Malcolm Knox was Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of St Andrews from 1936 to 1953, and then Principal of that university until 1966. He published translations of many of Hegel's philosophical, theological, and political writings. He died in 1980.

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (December 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198238169
• ISBN-13: 978-0198238164
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #60,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not since Aristotle has Philosophy so Illuminated Fine Art, August 8, 2000

By 

Paul Trejo - See all my reviews

This review is from: Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art Volume II (Paperback)

It is not every century that is so fortunate to receive a vision of Fine Art that illuminates the foundations of Art and what Art means for the human species. Hegel first distinguishes between ordinary Aesthetics and his notion of Fine Art, that is, Human Creativity. Nature can be Aesthetic, but only Humans create Fine Art, and it is Fine Art that Hegel wishes to explore in this masterpiece.

In great detail, Hegel explains why his concept of Spiritual Freedom is central to Art, just as it is central to Politics, to Religion, to Free Thinking and to Science. Fine Art is distinguished by its direct and personal appeal. A human hand fashions a single object with such care, devotion, skill and imagination that it may be treasured by millions for centuries. This is no act of conditioned reflexes, but an act of profound Freedom and awareness of Spiritual reality.

The key to Art, for Hegel, is always the Spirit. If the Spirit can shine through, then a work of Fine Art can be a great work. The more the Universal Spirit of humanity shows forth, the more attractive that work is to the millions. For that reason, Hegel suggested, the greatest Art is religious Art or any Art that rises to the level of the spiritually sublime, as in Tragedy.

Hegel considered that there is a hierarchy among the Arts. The Arts with the most matter are always a little bit lower than the Arts with less matter. For example, for Hegel, Architecture is the lowest form of Art, because the Original Idea can rarely be perfectly executed through coordinating and budgeting the large crowd of workers needed to complete it.

Sculpture is higher than Architecture, but the limitations of the large marble mass were considerable when compared with the relative Freedom offered by oil on a canvas exhibiting colors, shapes and light, said Hegel.

Higher than Painting are Dance and Music, Art forms that again require many people. However, the substance of these Art forms is not found simply as the human body or the musical instrument, rather, it is found within fleeting motions of the body, or the fleeting vibrations of the instrument. Music is ethereal, and when a musician stops playing, all Music itself stops. Further, Music is invisible to the eye, audible to the ear but also to the heart, and has the capability of manipulating human emotions in the most unique manner.

But the highest form of Art, said Hegel, is Poetry, and the highest form of Poetry is Tragic Drama. Drama is an imitation of Life - not just as in Comedy, the external vagaries of Life, but the inner Life of the human being who suffers and who dies.

Hegel remained a Christian all his life, although he was, as Cyril O'Regan aptly demonstrated, a Heterodox Christian. So we should not be surprised when we read that the Tragic Drama of Christ was, for Hegel, the highest expression of Fine Art, and a narrative that could not be repeated enough times by the Artists of each century.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hegel sees art as cultural phenomena that has deep significance for understanding reality, December 25, 2008

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Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art Volume I (Paperback)

I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art. T. M. Knox's book "Aesthetics: Lectures On Fine Arts" is a great way to learn about G. W. F. Hegel's ideas on how art, religion, and philosophy interact and should not be seen as sharp divisions of thought.

It is important to note that the Germans look on art as more than art. They look on art as cultural phenomena that has deep significance for understanding reality and not just to study experiences and such. Hegel is reacting to the modern model of aesthetics and the expression theory of Kant. Hegel looks on art as a fundamental development of the "spirit" spirit meaning thought culture and so on. Hegel had this relation between art, religion, and philosophy by religion he means a more developed religion that has more of an element of thought in it and how it talks about the nature of the world and the creation and purpose of the world. However, art in terms of poetry and the visual arts Hegel thinks is the first form that spirit takes as a sensuous form. The idea of a sensuous medium seems to be a necessary condition, in that art is fashioned in its own kind of material into a product that communicates something. Hegel says forms of art in history come before developed systems like religion and philosophy. By that, he means the human spirit is evolving and that the first forms indicate the representing of ideas and spiritual notions of sensuous forms. He does not at all hold to the idea that art is simply the expressions of subjective faculties. Hegel thinks of art as a manifestation of elements of reality, but in an early form. This is Hegel's developmental theory that spirit progresses. Organized religion expands to getting into philosophy that gets much closer to the truth by being more conceptual and theoretical.

The important influence Hegel had in his lectures on art is on the overall theory of Greek tragedy as an avenue to thought and not just tragedy. For example, throughout my years of studying the play "Antigone," I have been impressed by learning the fact that between Aristotle and Freud critics, philosophers and scholars have written so much about the play. There can be no doubt this is due to the fact as I have discovered "Antigone" was so successful at providing a lens for one to "see," and thus understand the essence of human life with all its tragic pitfalls. In particular, Hegel spent a considerable amount of time gleaning lessons from "Antigone" that have helped me to use it as a lens to "see" more clearly how humans have to question and ultimately choose between competing moral choices.

According to Hegel's account of Greek tragedy, Hegel did not view Greek tragedy as a collision between good and evil, but between competing goods. In addition, Hegel proposes in his interpretation of Greek tragedy, that the sufferings of the tragic hero are merely the means of reconciling the opposing moral goods--between two entirely ethical worlds that clash and cannot come together. Both Antigone and Creon have a moral vision or belief that they are destined to follow, which is the one-sidedness of their moral vision that clashes with the one-sidedness of the other character's moral vision. Both sides of contradiction are justified. Hegel finds that it is the conflict of irreconcilable yet justifiable moral worlds that will lead to the tragic death of the hero in Greek tragedy. This is an important point that Hegel makes, because I have found throughout my life that like Antigone, rarely am I given the opportunity to choose between good and evil. Usually I have been faced with the tougher moral choice of having to choose between moral goods. This is a great book that explores Hegel's philosophical writings, which opens up the world disclosiveness of Greek tragedy and the lessons they can still teach us today.

I recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy, philosophy of art, Greek culture, and Greek tragedy.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hegel sees art as cultural phenomena that has deep significance for understanding reality, December 25, 2008

By 

Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art. T. M. Knox's book "Aesthetics: Lectures On Fine Arts" is a great way to learn about G. W. F. Hegel's ideas on how art, religion, and philosophy interact and should not be seen as sharp divisions of thought.

It is important to note that the Germans look on art as more than art. They look on art as cultural phenomena that has deep significance for understanding reality and not just to study experiences and such. Hegel is reacting to the modern model of aesthetics and the expression theory of Kant. Hegel looks on art as a fundamental development of the "spirit" spirit meaning thought culture and so on. Hegel had this relation between art, religion, and philosophy by religion he means a more developed religion that has more of an element of thought in it and how it talks about the nature of the world and the creation and purpose of the world. However, art in terms of poetry and the visual arts Hegel thinks is the first form that spirit takes as a sensuous form. The idea of a sensuous medium seems to be a necessary condition, in that art is fashioned in its own kind of material into a product that communicates something. Hegel says forms of art in history come before developed systems like religion and philosophy. By that, he means the human spirit is evolving and that the first forms indicate the representing of ideas and spiritual notions of sensuous forms. He does not at all hold to the idea that art is simply the expressions of subjective faculties. Hegel thinks of art as a manifestation of elements of reality, but in an early form. This is Hegel's developmental theory that spirit progresses. Organized religion expands to getting into philosophy that gets much closer to the truth by being more conceptual and theoretical.

The important influence Hegel had in his lectures on art is on the overall theory of Greek tragedy as an avenue to thought and not just tragedy. For example, throughout my years of studying the play "Antigone," I have been impressed by learning the fact that between Aristotle and Freud critics, philosophers and scholars have written so much about the play. There can be no doubt this is due to the fact as I have discovered "Antigone" was so successful at providing a lens for one to "see," and thus understand the essence of human life with all its tragic pitfalls. In particular, Hegel spent a considerable amount of time gleaning lessons from "Antigone" that have helped me to use it as a lens to "see" more clearly how humans have to question and ultimately choose between competing moral choices.

According to Hegel's account of Greek tragedy, Hegel did not view Greek tragedy as a collision between good and evil, but between competing goods. In addition, Hegel proposes in his interpretation of Greek tragedy, that the sufferings of the tragic hero are merely the means of reconciling the opposing moral goods--between two entirely ethical worlds that clash and cannot come together. Both Antigone and Creon have a moral vision or belief that they are destined to follow, which is the one-sidedness of their moral vision that clashes with the one-sidedness of the other character's moral vision. Both sides of contradiction are justified. Hegel finds that it is the conflict of irreconcilable yet justifiable moral worlds that will lead to the tragic death of the hero in Greek tragedy. This is an important point that Hegel makes, because I have found throughout my life that like Antigone, rarely am I given the opportunity to choose between good and evil. Usually I have been faced with the tougher moral choice of having to choose between moral goods. This is a great book that explores Hegel's philosophical writings, which opens up the world disclosiveness of Greek tragedy and the lessons they can still teach us today.

I recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy, philosophy of art, Greek culture, and Greek tragedy.