Kant

To analyze the quote, “If we judge objects merely according to concepts, then all representation of beauty is lost,” one must realize the point of view that the author, Immanuel Kant, was coming from.  Kant was a German philosopher and who began being known for his aesthetic perspective only in his later years of life.  By going through many different troubles in his life, Kant went through the hard process of completely switching his perspectives of the sublime, good and beauty.  This work, built the foundation for modern aesthetics.  With this in mind, one must realize that modern aesthetics say that art is beautiful for the sole purpose of being beautiful.  There is no deeper meaning that is needed for something to be considered art.  Looking back to the quote, Kant is almost saying the same thing.  He is saying that we cannot look at art according to concepts because when we do, all the beauty that the work of art had will be lost.  No concepts can be made that will allow for the critiquing of art.  This thought process applies directly to what Kant was saying in the earlier reading about taste.  He said that there was no way that taste could be directed by concepts that had come about through the process of a study.  There was no way to completely write down how art was to be felt about.  I think that these two ideas are intertwined with each other.  One can not use a set concept to judge art because the beauty will be lost.  The beauty will be lost because the viewer has a standard of taste that cannot be comprised of solely that concept.  Therefore, because each of us finds something uniquely beautiful about art, art cannot be judged SOLELY according to concepts.