The Outline And Discussion Of Kant

’s Conception Of Genius Essay, Research Paper

93 THE PHILOSOPHY OF ART FROM HUME TO HEGEL

Outline and Discuss Kant’s conception of Genius

As part of his Critique of the Aesthetic Judgement, Kant sets out to

explain what constitutes a fine work of art, and in doing so he asserts

that “fine arts must necessarily be regarded as arts of genius.” (page

168, ‘The Critique of Judgement’, Immanuel Kant). He then goes on to

justify this, and to explain what genius consists of, and how a work of

genius is arrived at.

Kant begins by stating that for the representation of any work of art

to be possible, it must have certain rules at its foundation. However,

with fine art, the beauty of the object is judged independently of any

concept, and therefore a work of fine art cannot have been derived from

any rule which had a concept as its basis. From this it follows that “fine

art is only possible as a product of genius”, where “genius is a talent for

producing that for which no definite rule can be given.” (page 168). It

follows from this notion of genius that as no definite rule can be given,

the author will not be able to explain how the ideas that created the fine

work of art came to them.

Kant now goes on to make an important distinction between the

work of a genius and the work of what he terms “a man of brains.” (page

169). As rules cannot be laid down to enable others to create works of

genius, the work of genius differs crucially from the work of a scientist.

We may refer to Newton as “a man of brains…[but] all that Newton has

set forth in his immortal work on the Principles of Natural Philosophy

may well be learned…but we cannot learn to write in a true poetic vein.”

(page 170). Scientists can explain the steps that they followed and

methods that they used to reach their discovery, but no fine artist can

show how their ideas came to them as they themselves do not know.

We can therefore see that no matter how important the work of a

scientist, it can never be termed the work of a genius.

So what is the rule with no concept as its basis that is behind a

work of fine art. As we cannot actually set out this rule due to its lack

of a concept, Kant feels that the only way in which it can be understood

is by experiencing the works of geniuses directly. In this way the works

become exemplary models, which a pupil can then use for following,

though not for imitation. Alternatively the work of a genius may inspire

other geniuses to create their own original works of genius.

15/06/93 However, Kant does not want to say that a work of genius

is devoid of any rules whatsoever. “Genius can do no more than furnish

rich material for products of fine art; its elaboration and its form require

a talent academically trained, so that it may be employed in such a way

as to stand the test of judgement.” (page 171-172). In other words,

without experience and technique, a genius will not produce a fine work

of art. A genius needs the best training and conditions possible to

flourish, and only “shallow minds fancy that the best evidence they can

give of their being full-blown geniuses is by emancipating themselves

from all academic constraints of rules, in the belief that one cuts a finer

figure on the back of an ill-tempered than of a trained horse.” (page

171).

We saw in Kant’s Four Moments of the Aesthetic Judgement that to

estimate the beauty of an object in nature, we require taste, and must

not bring into consideration the objective finality of the object in making

our judgement. In other words, the end of the object or perfection

contained therein is not to be included in our judgement. A product of

art on the other hand in being declared beautiful “always presupposes

an end in the cause (and its causality), a concept of what the thing is

intended to be must first of all be laid at its basis…as its end constitutes

the perfection of the thing, it follows that in estimating the beauty of art

the perfection of the thing must also be taken into account.” (page 173).

So while the aesthetic judgement in nature must not have an end or

perfection at its basis, the opposite is true in judging fine art.

A further difference between fine art and nature can be seen in the

way that fine art can beautifully represent what in nature would be ugly

or displeasing. Kant points to sculpture, where direct representation of

ugly objects is avoided, and they are represented instead in a beautiful

way. Kant then returns to the importance of experience in producing

fine art, explaining how the form in fine art requires taste rather than

inspiration, and this taste may require a lengthy process of practice and

correction. Taste alone though is obviously not enough to produce a

work of fine art, but is an essential part of the process.

So what

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