Mistrust the Beautiful
Reichlin, Bruno
Mistrust the Beautiful - 2017.
10
The notions of beauty and ugliness run up against an epistemological obstacle: they suggest that fundamentally we deal with “things” whose qualities we assess. The aesthetic dimension is a relational property and not a property of the object in question, while the aesthetic relation is intentional and specific from the point of view that it can be distinguished from other representational activities. Indeed, there are no such things as aesthetic objects, only an aesthetic conduct that permeates all objects. There is no longer any separation between “sensible understanding”, the prerogative of inspired individuals who act on instinct, and the “cognitive understanding” that is the fate of hard-working intellectuals. In short, it is held that a work proposes and the observer disposes: he understands and appreciates on the basis of his culture, abilities and hermeneutic creativity—because, as Berthold Brecht used to say, the comprehension of a work of art is also a form of work. For those who enter the realm of art, like others enter the realm of religion, the question of the beautiful does not even arise, the beautiful is always right; while for the general public, may the beautiful and art dictate. Jean Dubuffet wrote in May 1968 (well, well!) in his selection of essays published as Asphyxiante culture: “Beauty descends directly from the singing of angels, from the burning bush, whose enduring dogma Professor Chastel, wearing a starry gown and ringed by his servants, reveals at the Sorbonne (with a ferule)”. Beauty vs. science?
Mistrust the Beautiful - 2017.
10
The notions of beauty and ugliness run up against an epistemological obstacle: they suggest that fundamentally we deal with “things” whose qualities we assess. The aesthetic dimension is a relational property and not a property of the object in question, while the aesthetic relation is intentional and specific from the point of view that it can be distinguished from other representational activities. Indeed, there are no such things as aesthetic objects, only an aesthetic conduct that permeates all objects. There is no longer any separation between “sensible understanding”, the prerogative of inspired individuals who act on instinct, and the “cognitive understanding” that is the fate of hard-working intellectuals. In short, it is held that a work proposes and the observer disposes: he understands and appreciates on the basis of his culture, abilities and hermeneutic creativity—because, as Berthold Brecht used to say, the comprehension of a work of art is also a form of work. For those who enter the realm of art, like others enter the realm of religion, the question of the beautiful does not even arise, the beautiful is always right; while for the general public, may the beautiful and art dictate. Jean Dubuffet wrote in May 1968 (well, well!) in his selection of essays published as Asphyxiante culture: “Beauty descends directly from the singing of angels, from the burning bush, whose enduring dogma Professor Chastel, wearing a starry gown and ringed by his servants, reveals at the Sorbonne (with a ferule)”. Beauty vs. science?
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