Cognitive Rethinking of Beauty
Uniting the Philosophy and Cognitive Studies of Aesthetic Perception
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- Contents
- Cognitive Rethinking of Beauty: Uniting the Philosophy and Cognitive Studies of Aesthetic Perception – Introduction
- Uncovering Beauty: the Formalist, Neurobiological and Anti-Formalist Concepts
- Is Beauty Measurable?
- Ambiguity as One of the Sources for the Perception of Beauty
- Ten Problems of Neuroaesthetics
- Language of Emotions, Peacock’s Tail or Auditory Cheesecake? Musical Meaning: Philosophy vs. Evolutionary Psychology
- Beauty in the Context of Evolutionary Approaches
- On the Possibilities of Uniting Philosophy with Cognitive-Scientific Examinations of Beauty
- The Development of Aesthetic Experience and Freedom
- Evaluation as a Challenge for the Future
- List of Contributors
- Series index
Cognitive Rethinking of Beauty:
Uniting the Philosophy and Cognitive Studies of Aesthetic Perception – Introduction
Andrej Démuth
The presented book is a direct sequel to the previous compilations of studies “The Cognitive Aspects of Aesthetic Experience – Introduction” (2017) and “The Cognitive Aspects of Aesthetic Experience – Selected Problems” (2019), and represents the culmination of the project The Cognitive Rethinking of Beauty: Uniting the Philosophy and Cognitive Studies of Aesthetic Perception, which examines whether it is possible to identify cognitive aspects or purposes in aesthetic judgments and in the perception of beauty, and whether it is possible to meaningfully establish cognitive aesthetics as a unified scientific discipline (philosophy united with a cognitive approach), studying the epistemic background of beauty and art. For beauty and aesthetic experience represent very complex phenomena for research, providing a scope that may be realised by both philosophical and purely aesthetic analyses (ranging from the semantic analysis of aesthetic terms, through their historical understanding, their relationship with other, for instance, psychological or ethical connotations, to the attempts to define beauty, the sublime, grace and other aesthetic moments), as well as for the psychology of art and emotional sensitivity, the evolutionary analysis of our history and the knowledge of our ancestors, or even for the contemplation of our cultural, social and anthropological purpose (teleology and theology of beauty) and the uplifting of man by beauty and art, and, last but not least, for an empirical study of the parameters of aesthetic objects and the complex neural research conducted by neuroaesthetics. Thus, it may be said that beauty truly represents a multidimensional problem for cross-, inter-, multi- and transdisciplinary studies, considering the diverse (and often very distinct) aspects of the perception of beauty, its character, causes and purposes, mechanisms and other related issues.
It appears quite natural that in the contemporary era of the redefinition of scientific disciplines, and also due to different research perspectives, which generate various methodological terms, approaches and issues, the questions arise of whether there is any scientific discipline that holistically examines the issue of beauty and if so, in all of (or, at least, most of) its relevant contexts and aspects, what nature it should have. The holistic study of beauty and aesthetic experience must clearly include not only the issue of the determination of its core (e.g. What is beauty?), but also whether beauty is actually the core and inevitable term of aesthetics research, or whether we should point our attention to aesthetic emotionality (Winfried Menninghaus), the psychology of aesthetics, social and cultural anthropology studying the universal and relative nature of aesthetic approaches and judgements, or to the research of neural correlates of aesthetic experience (Semir Zeki), incarnation as well as imagination and ←9 | 10→empathy, or even the analysis of the structure and nature of aesthetic objects themselves. Or should beauty be the subject of the history and theory of art, aesthetic or other axiology (examining the norms, processes and components of assessment), or is it simply a separate philosophical discipline which may disregard similar empirical and scientific aspects?
Unlike the previous volumes, where we attempted to outline the problematic background and methodological complications of cognitive aesthetic studies, this book essentially discusses whether philosophy can integrate a plethora of various empirical and neuroscientific approaches to the study of beauty or whether it should preserve its traditional a priori basis. In fact, is it possible to unite philosophy and cognitive-scientific analyses of aesthetic perception and assessment? What part does, and can, philosophy play in aesthetic research? Is it predestined to only document and clarify the history of traditional aesthetic concepts and serve as a guide through the cemetery of the history and theory (philosophy) of art? Or should it synthesize the individual partial, empirical and scientific findings and represent a sort of unifier of scientific (and non-scientific) knowledge?
Not only are these questions related to the problem of the relationship between philosophy and cognitive aesthetics, but they also set the framework for an overall understanding of philosophy and its relationship with the sciences and the repeated redefinition and clarification of its role in the era of successful development of sciences and their study of the world. Thus, these questions provide philosophers with the opportunity to contemplate the issue of beauty as well as the nature and essence of philosophy itself, its meaning, methodological specificities and the place of philosophy in the contemporary exploration of the world. Certain philosophers see the future of philosophy in forging closer links with the sciences and scientific exploration and closer cooperation with, for instance, cognitive-scientific or experimental approaches (experimental philosophy or empirical aesthetics). Unlike certain scientists who do not deem philosophy to be beneficial today, as its possible contribution has supposedly been replaced by individual scientific disciplines, the philosophers who are in favour of scientific cooperation do not dispute the importance and meaning of philosophical exploration itself, but instead, they see its future in the reflection and a more profound communication with the sciences and empirical studies, as well as in the understanding of what the sciences do not want to, or have not been able to, grasp meaningfully and effectively (e.g. the nature of subjective experience, value, meaning, etc.). The future of philosophy then lies in the creation of new – separate, yet still philosophical – forms and approaches, and possibly new and specific disciplines of philosophical-←10 | 11→scientific exploration that result from that1. On the other hand, there are philosophers who believe in the importance and irreplaceability of classical “armchair” philosophy, a priori analysis of terms, and essentially in the irreplaceability of and the impossibility of contaminating the classical philosophical approach to the issue of beauty, as well as in the lack of the ability of the sciences or empirical exploration to bring something meaningful and new to philosophical thinking.
Details
- Pages
- 168
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783631794937
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9783631794944
- ISBN (MOBI)
- 9783631794951
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9783631794920
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2019 (October)
- Keywords
- Psychology Neuroaesthetics Aesthetics Unity Emotions Evolutionary Approaches
- Published
- Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2019. 168 S.
Biographical notes
Andrej Démuth (Volume editor)
Andrej Démuth is a Professor of philosophy at the Comenius University in Bratislava. He studied philosophy and psychology, and is the author of many books and articles on cognition and the relationship between reflected and non reflected knowledge. His research focuses on modern philosophy, epistemology and cognitive studies.
