Kant's Aesthetic Cognitivism: On the Value of Art

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Mojca Kuplen connects 18th-century German aesthetics to contemporary theories of self-knowledge in order to highlight the unique cognitive value of art. She does this through revisiting Kants account of aesthetic ideas, and demonstrating how works of art can increase our understanding of abstract concepts whilst promoting self-knowledge. Addressing some of the most fundamental questions in contemporary aesthetics and philosophy of art, this study covers the value and importance of art, the relationship between art and beauty, the role of knowledge in art and the criteria for artistic excellence. It offers an insight into problems related to the apprehension of meaning and the cognitive processing of abstract representations that have been of interest to contemporary cognitive science. Kant's Aesthetic Cognitivism presents these arguments in a lucid and wide-ranging engagement with the history of aesthetics and current academic debates to understand what art is and why it is valuable.

Reviews

In this superb book, Kuplen offers an original interpretation of Kant that opens up a new way of thinking about the forms of worldly insight that art can offer. Kuplens model demonstrates that arts claim to cognitive value lies in its ability to reveal features of the world in ways that cannot be grasped through the exercising of ordinary forms of cognition. Kuplens case for this is smart, clear, and of broad relevance. Kants Aesthetic Cognitivism is a major achievement. * John Gibson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Louisville, USA *
A thorough treatment of Kants understanding of artworks as expressions of aesthetic ideas is long overdue. Kuplen provides such an account, arguing that art enhances our holistic understanding of abstract concepts and ideas by leveraging the emotional and affective responses they elicit. Doing so, moreover, occasions aesthetic pleasure in art, suggesting an intimate connection between cognitive and aesthetic value at the core of Kants aesthetic cognitivism. Timely, and fully developed, Kuplens account is sure to further debate. * Diarmuid Costello, Professor of Philosophy, University of Warwick, UK *

Author Bio

Mojca Kuplen is an alumni of the Department of Philosophy, Central European University, Austria. She specializes in Kants philosophy, philosophy of art and aesthetics. She is the author of Beauty, Ugliness and the Free Play of Imagination.