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Introduction to Part II

from Part II - Aesthetic judgment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Rachel Zuckert
Affiliation:
Northwestern University, Illinois
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Summary

As we have seen, Kant argues that we must judge according to the principle of purposiveness without a purpose in order to characterize the dynamic unity of the diverse that characterizes organisms, but that this principle is merely subjectively necessary: it is needed to aid us in discovering laws governing these objects, but it cannot be determinatively applied to them. In the CAJ, Kant's conclusions appear similar: aesthetic judgments have only subjective universal validity, or make claims only to subjective necessity. Beauty – like organic purposiveness – is not a property of objects, but is (as it were) in the eye of the beholder. Yet Kant's question here is somewhat different than that in the CTJ: he is not concerned here to find a principle by which we could explain material unity in objects (though he does hold that beautiful objects are “formally” or “in their representation” unified) but instead to explain how something that is subjective (pleasure) could be the basis of universal or necessary claims. Thus here Kant argues not for mere subjective necessity, but for necessity in the realm of the subject. As I shall argue, Kant's account in the CAJ is nonetheless closely connected to the CTJ, for the aesthetically judging subject must itself be understood as purposive without a purpose, to be engaged in a judging activity structured by this principle.

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Kant on Beauty and Biology
An Interpretation of the 'Critique of Judgment'
, pp. 173 - 180
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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  • Introduction to Part II
  • Rachel Zuckert, Northwestern University, Illinois
  • Book: Kant on Beauty and Biology
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511487323.007
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  • Introduction to Part II
  • Rachel Zuckert, Northwestern University, Illinois
  • Book: Kant on Beauty and Biology
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511487323.007
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction to Part II
  • Rachel Zuckert, Northwestern University, Illinois
  • Book: Kant on Beauty and Biology
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511487323.007
Available formats
×