Aesthetics: Philosophy of Art or Philosophy of Culture?

Abstract

In the Hegelian philosophic tradition aesthetics is interpreted as philosophy of art. Since already Hegel envisions a possible end of art, for authors such as Henri Lefebvre and Luc Ferry the development of art in the previous century seems only to confirm the views offered by Hegel. A different view is that of Arthur Danto who speaks not only of a "postromantic" art (Peter Burger) but of a "post-historical" one. In spite of such views it appears that art and therefore aesthetics as a philosophy of art have lost much of their former importance. What therefore often occurs in relation to contemporary culture are attempts to develop a philosophy which would be focused on culture which is gaining in importance and which would thus complement the extant philosophy of art. The author discusses two such attempts, namely those of Heinz Paetzold and Fredric Jameson. Nonetheless, in his view, in both cases the theories offered remain insufficient and in need of further development if they are to philosophically grasp the current changes in art and culture.