6 5 The Aesthetics of the Enlightenment in France

Lecture



France's aesthetic thought of the 17th century was influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution (1789-1794), which entailed the democratization of the country's spiritual life. Outstanding representatives of French enlightenment, ideologues of a new democratic society, theorists of aesthetics were Jean Baptiste Dubot (1670-1742), Charles Louis Montesquieu ( 1689-1755), Jean Leron D'Alembert (1717-1783), Etienne Condillac (1715-1780), Claude Adrian Helvetius (1715-1771), Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire (1694-1778), Charles Battie (1713-1780) , Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), Denis Diderot (1813-1884), School and artistic practice classes syscism, exhausted itself, turned into a rococo style mannerism, affirmed realistic orientation of art and democratism of aesthetics. The center of culture sprang up a man of the "third class" Aesthetics, according to new demands of life, focuses on fine-tuning the aesthetic principles of realistic art and its influence on the spiritual world of the individual , studies of the nature of the power of the abilities, peculiarities of the aesthetic perception and experience of art, the nature of aesthetic tastes and the means of their improvement. Important In order to consolidate efforts to create new principles of aesthetics, the preparation and publication of the famous Encyclopedia led by D Diderot and J. D'Alembert. Along with articles on philosophy and religion, it contained articles on aesthetics and art. Aesthetic principles that were founded Enlightenment, exploring the problems of art and art, is a theory of imitation, at one time was actively developing the aesthetics of the Renaissance, taking it from antiquity, and classical art, reworked it in accordance with their own needs. styami Education considers the theory of imitation means of orientation on art faithfulness to reality, complementing the idea of ​​forming mist etstva forces due to its ability to influence the feelings and ennobling moralnati on pochuttya th oblagorodzhuvati morally.

The first French enlightener was Abbot J. Dubot, author of the treatise Critical Reflections on Poetry and Painting" (1719) The author sees the meaning of art in the ability to give sensual pleasure and even awaken and passion. In addition, the author connects the sources of art with the needs of the soul. vital, as well as the needs of the body. The needs of the soul, in turn, are divided into the need to feed on the impressions that I give to external objects, and the need to reflect on various objects. The first method is called feelings, the second is mentally [9, p. 35] Using the theory of imitation, J. Dubot reveals a qualitative difference in feeling, which is due to real events, and impressions of feelings received from the experience of works of art. This problem is interesting because of the novelty of the wording, because it reveals excellent emotions and aesthetic With feelings, the author explains this difference as follows: Satisfaction caused by imitation is pure enjoyment; at the same time, the objects of imitation are able to awaken passions Orykh would be too heavy for us. It is not accompanied by troubles accompanying serious emotions excited by real objects. "[9, p. 45] The author’s main focus is on clarifying the influence of face painting and poetry. The differences between them are revealed in the means of imitation and the subject of imitation, between the technique of creating an image and its aesthetics, that is, the impact on the spiritual world of a person, the philosopher’s idea about the possible dangers of art, which is used with "bad The goal : In our opinion, it’s necessary to forbid superficial and dangerous arts that may contribute to the development of evil inclinations The idea of ​​the possibility of ennobling the feeling of art is no less relevant: The image of virtuous deeds enlightens our soul, as if being brought up above itself and arouses positive passions in us, such as love of country and glory The habit of these passions makes us capable of such impulses of virtue or courage, could not awaken in us only reason [9, 54] Thus, the author It reveals such an important feature of aesthetic feelings as free interaction with objects of non-indifference considering the intrinsic value of the process: being in the circle of influence in order to receive new impressions and fulfill vitality. The author considers the inner convincingness of the work important, to complete the aesthetic impression of art. . its inner vitality, connecting the depth of content and mastery of artistic embodiment The proof of these provisions is based on the rich material of the history of art and artistic practice, as well as on the material of the history of aesthetics. This a bake examines the genre originality of tragedy, poetry, painting Considerable attention is paid to aesthetic taste - problem, attracted the special attention of the enlighteners: English (this has already been mentioned), as well as French and German meaningful category, seeing it above the knowledge of the technical rules of art art and category, vbachayuchi її vyshoyu vd knowledge of the technical rules of mystic.

The theory of aesthetic taste is given special attention by Sh-L Montesquieu Trud Experience of Taste in Works of Nature and Art (written for the Encyclopedia), devoted specifically to this problem. The sources of taste see the taste of people in the natural abilities of a person on human feelings, and the delimitations of purely consumer and aesthetic, i.e. - the concept is useful and beautiful, thus aggravating the theory of taste. The question of taste is violated in the work of D'Alembert Reflections on philosophical excesses in the field of taste According to the author’s definition, taste is the ability to manifest what it is in a work of art like sensitive souls or insult them "[11, with 301] The objective basis of aesthetic taste is not only the correctness of judgments and the refinement and sensitivity of the soul, that is not only the subjective qualities of the spirit, but also the objective qualities of the and the perception of a work of art should act on the imagination and the senses, and mind, and in the organs of perception is, in tastes and I recognized the bone object relationship and spirituality subject vospriyatiyadmeta vіdnoshennya, i spirituality sub'єkta spriymannya.

Particular attention is paid to the problem of taste in the works of E Condillac The experience of the origin of human knowledge and Treatise on sensations Follower of sensationalism J. Locke E Condillac concludes all the knowledge from the sensations of comrades, including the beautiful, relates to the pleasures given by the sensations Considering art as an imitation of nature, he sees its value in satisfying the need for communication between people, i.e. opens this ?? his property, which later began to be defined as communicative function of art, the genesis of art is derived from the idea of ​​"social contract", which is typical of the XVIII agreement, which is characteristic of the XVIII century.

Considerable attention is paid to the problem of taste in the works of K-A Helvetia O mind , About man The philosopher, in her interpretation, seeks to go beyond the relationship taste is art and find their common basis in the external world. he considers geographic, climatic, mental, social and other factors to be the basis of the level of taste from education of the people: The so-called taste presupposes education [5, p. 105] Polypia of tastes are observed only in the age of enlightenment, the philosopher notes, and it is preceded by changes in the forms of government in the habit x, the laws and the position of the people. Accordingly, the perfection of the senses occurs ish in the century of freedom, when great people and great passions appear, then the nations are really addicted to noble and bold feelings [5, with 106 they begin to feel noble and smile ”[5, 106].

In the works of Voltaire, the study of the theory of taste acquires the value of one of the central problems. The articles written for the Philosophical Dictionary ( Encyclopedias ) deal with the genre specifics of Iki art, in particular drama, the problems of creative imagination and genius, theory tragedy and others. In the treatise Smak the philosopher distinguishes between physiological taste and artistic taste, calling the latter sensitivity to the beautiful and ugly in the arts [4, p. 267] Comparing the taste of artistic and physiological life philosopher for shading the spiritual character of the first Democratic position Voltaire F. - in the idea of ​​bringing up artistic tastes, although it takes a long time Important analysis of the process of ascent from the first unconscious impressions of the work to distinguishing its aesthetic value Only the habit and the section we make a person capable suddenly enjoy, having distinguished inaccessible earlier." The philosopher notes the possibility of bringing up a developed taste for the whole nation, provided that it gradually perceives its spirit to the bad civilians No less relevant is the question of the possibility of arguing over tastes Voltaire introduces clear criteria as to when tastes can be argued and when not. "They say tastes are not worth arguing, it is fair when it comes to aversion to one food, about passion for another - they do not argue about it, because bodily defects are incorrigible Otherwise it happens in art: because it has true beauty, there is a good taste that distinguishes them, and a bad one does not perceive them, and the defects of the mind source of bad taste - the philosopher connects the development of the aesthetic taste of the whole nation with a high level of political and cultural life of the nation and, on the contrary, when public life barely warms, the spirit declines, its acuteness is dulled and the taste is dumb on what is formed [4 , with 270 decadence, his young state dull and greed him ... ”[4, p. 270].

The aesthetics theory is valuable in bringing aesthetic qualities of imagination and its role in artistic creativity. The philosopher identifies two types of imagination: the first only holds the impression, the second connects the images obtained, combining them in different ways. First - passive imagination, the second - active Passive imagination differs little from memory [4, p. 281] her strength is that she can seize the human psyche and give birth to fanaticism, ambition to cause mental illness, etc. This kind of imagination Voltaire connects in the lack of education, spiritual limitation of a person. Active imagination is the imagination that connects thinking and understanding with memory. She creates, organizes an impression. Such a gift is a genius and manifests itself as a creative imagination. In turn, the active imagination of the philosopher divides into types depending on the spheres of its detection This is, firstly, the imagination, material of which is a logical thinking, operating with images-concepts, forming logs according to the laws ki Secondly, imaginative imagination is the basis of artistic talent. In turn, the philosopher divides imaginative imagination into three levels, taking into account everyone’s place in the creation of the whole - a perfect artistic creature of artistic creation.

Important work in the popularization of the ideas of aesthetics and the practice of art was the work of Sh Vatto Fine arts, reduced to a single principle (1746). In it the author systematically expresses the theory of aesthetics, to the principle of imitation as fundamental, he understands not in the sense of copying, but transfer of the inner vitality of the subject of indifference. So, art is a synthesis of the qualities of the subject and the image, the artist’s cognitive and creative skills, as well as aesthetic taste. "Taste in art is the same as intelligence in aukke Truth is the goal of science The goal of art is good and beauty "[11, p. 383] The author sees the goal of Mr. Etstva in the imitation of" beautiful nature ", and his purpose is to excite, affect the heart. He also developed a system of types of art depending on in the era of the Enlightenment, Sh Vatto became the systematizer and popularizer of the ideas of aesthetics by means of imitation [11, with 376–390, the promoter of idheit aesthetics [11, p. 376–390].

Quite new aspects in the theory of aesthetics were developed in the writings of JF Rousseau: in articles on music aesthetics written for the Encyclopedia, where he headed the music department, the treatise did the development of science and Mr. estws contribute to the purification of manners , as well as in novels Emil and New Eloise , examining the role of art in the moral and aesthetic development of the personality, J.-Rousseau appeared to be the consistent spokesman for democratic ideas in culture, in particular in art. He was the first who formulated the idea of ​​social affirmation. Services, serving the ruling strata of society, thereby approaching the problem, later became known as “alienation”. Indeed, the development of civilization, the philosopher notes, did not contribute to humanization of culture and the moral and spiritual improvement of a person. the norm of relations between people, and therefore people no longer dare to appear as they really are, and with such constant coercion these people forming a herd, named societies, are fasting Lena in the same conditions, they will all do the same, if the powerful reasons do not turn them away from it [21, pp. 28-29]. The philosopher does not idealize the past, noting the rudeness of people's habits, but sincerely, sincerity was characteristic of them. neither science nor art appreciably influences the improvement of morality and does not make a person smarter, even JR Rousseau connects even their very appearance with the licentiousness of art, which the arts serve: Why would we have art, if not luxury, that nourish? ot; For what the hell would be our mystery, yakbi not rozkosh і, scho їх zh lyat? "[21, p. ZO].

The philosopher does not deny art as such, but defends its democracy. Spectacles are created for the people, and only by their influence on him can one judge their absolute qualities," he writes in the Letter to Zh DAla Amber [11, 393] Indeed, this criterion retains its relevance at all times. J.- Rousseau implies the art of humanistic direction, able to excite in us "pity for the simple suffering people of the simple stragglers."

A special place in the aesthetics of the French Enlightenment belongs to Denis Diderot The circle of his research attention is the problems of aesthetics of theater and dramaturgy, fine art and music, set out in articles x to Encyclopedia , in particular in the treatise On the beautiful , in Salons", - a sample of art criticism, labor Paradox about the actor In the treatise On the beautiful objective bases of the ability to get ideas of the beautiful flow from our needs. They encourage to develop abilities, helping to get ideas of order, p All of these ideas are derived from the organs of feelings and are acquired [8, p. 397]. The philosopher’s opinion reveals the objective basis of the ability to know the qualities and properties of things and phenomena of the natural world. These are human needs that determine cognition. develop analysis abilities, i.e. the selection of phenomena and objects from the point of view of their expedient vitality as a result, on the basis of the acquired experience of interactions with things and phenomena, the ideas of expedient vitality in its concrete manifestations are formed. The next step in knowing the truth about the beautiful is the ascent of consciousness from concrete manifestations of qualities in objects to an "abstract positive the concepts of goodness in proportionality, messages, relationships, symmetry and to the abstract negative notions of disproportion, disorder and chaos "[8, p. 1 14] The aesthetic experience of beauty, as well as its opposites - the ugly - is a consequence of the harmonious interaction of the intellectual structures of the personality: the mind and senses of the harmonious interconnection of the intellectual structures of particularity: romance and pochuttiv.

The idea of ​​beauty in the aesthetics of D. Diderot is deepened in the aspect of expanding and improving the aesthetic experience of perception and the degree of growth of the morality of human relations and the real world. He defines beauty by introducing the concept of "attitude", the content of which is characterized as follows: "I call everything beautiful outside of me that contains a few that can wake up the idea of ​​relationships in my mind, and the beautiful relative to en is all that awakens this idea [8, p 117]. So the philosopher built a dialectic of the objective and the subjective in the beautiful tive in beauty.

Дидро дает углубленное трактовки понятию подражание , рассматривая его как соответствие художественного образа закономерным проявлениям реальности Уточняя понятия красота и подражание Д Дидро замечает являются: Что такое подражательная красота? - Соответствие образа предмету [8, с 120] Философ конкретизирует понятие идеальный образ , корректируя его в соответствии с реальностей жизни, а именно - как образ обобщим ений, т.е. типичный Он выступает против идеализации действительности, рассматривая ее изображения в свете идеала Д Дидро обращается также к идеям Аристотеля о отличного между деятельностью историка и поэта Эстетика Д Дидро содержит последовательное обоснование демократических идеалов в искусстве, утверждая идею социального равенства людей и важность просвещения общества, нравственного и эстетического воспитанные ния личностейсуспільства, морального й естетичного виховання особистості.

French aesthetics enriched the aesthetic theory with an in-depth understanding of the theory of aesthetic feelings, aesthetic tastes, the theory of beauty and the role of art in the spiritual experience of a person.


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Aesthetics

Terms: Aesthetics