The Kantian Subject: Sensus Communis, Mimesis, Work of Mourning PDF
Preview The Kantian Subject: Sensus Communis, Mimesis, Work of Mourning
cover next page > title: The Kantian Subject : Sensus Communis, Mimesis, Work of Mourning SUNY Series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy author: Japaridze, Tamar. publisher: State University of New York Press isbn10 | asin: 0791443736 print isbn13: 9780791443736 ebook isbn13: 9780585350271 language: English subject Kant, Immanuel,--1724-1804--Aesthetics, Aesthetics, German--18th century, Kant, Immanuel,--1724-1804-- Aesthetics, Aesthetics, German--18th century. publication date: 2000 lcc: B2799.A4J37 2000eb ddc: 111/.85/092 subject: Kant, Immanuel,--1724-1804--Aesthetics, Aesthetics, German--18th century, Kant, Immanuel,--1724-1804-- Aesthetics, Aesthetics, German--18th century. cover next page > < previous page page_i next page > Page i The Kantian Subject < previous page page_i next page > < previous page page_ii next page > Page ii SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy Dennis J. Schmidt, editor < previous page page_ii next page > < previous page page_iii next page > Page iii The Kantian Subject Sensus Communis, Mimesis, Work of Mourning Tamar Japaridze < previous page page_iii next page > < previous page page_iv next page > Page iv Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2000 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y. 12246 Production by Marilyn P. Semerad Marketing by Fran Keneston Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Japaridze, Tamar, 1961 The Kantian subject : sensus communis, mimesis, work of mourning / Tamar Japaridze. p. cm. (SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7914-4373-6(hardcover : alk. paper). ISBN 0-7914-4374-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1.Kant, Immanuel, 17241804Aesthetics. 2.Aesthetics, German18th century. 3.Kant, Immanuel, 17241804Contributions in subjectivity. 4.SubjectivityHistory18th century. I. Title. II. Series. B2799.A4J37 2000 111'.85'092dc21 98-52213 CIP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 < previous page page_iv next page > < previous page page_v next page > Page v Contents Preface vii Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 1 The Kantian Subject and Contemporary Critique 13 Transference and Language 17 The Critique of Judgment and Post-Kantian Philosophy 19 Heidegger: Critique of Representation 22 Freud: Mimesis and the Work of Mourning 28 The Temporal Character of the Kantian Subject 33 Kant's Ethics and its Precursors Chapter 1. System 43 43 The System of Critical Philosophy 54 The Concept of Beauty and the Kantian System Chapter 2. Sensus Communis 63 63 The Aesthetic Faculty 69 Sensibility and Judgment 84 Reason: "Das was Hierbei Streitig Wird, Ist Nicht die Sache, Sondern der Ton" 88 The Critical Faculty Chapter 3. The Sublime 91 92 Time and the Vital Forces < previous page page_v next page > < previous page page_vi next page > Page vi 116 Aesthetics and Representation: Grounding of the Kantian System 121 The Sublimation of the Senses: Taste and Reflection Conclusion: Language 125 Notes 135 Bibliography 153 Index 163 < previous page page_vi next page > < previous page page_vii next page > Page vii Preface In this work it is argued that the importance of Kant's aesthetic theory must be understood in the context of a radical critique of subjectivity. Specifically, I propose that the Third Critique constitutes the turning point in the formulation of the concept of the subject in that by validating feeling (i.e., subjective pleasure and pain) in the Critique of Judgment, Kant reworks the notions of the autonomous subject and its constitutive principles and posits the other as the fundamental (transcendental) category. It thereby achieves a peculiar (aesthetic) synthesis that is worked out in the notion of the sensus communis. From this aesthetic vantage point the principle categories of Kant's philosophy also become reformulated beyond the metaphysical values of subjectivity. This especially bears upon Kant's ethics and his theory of language. It is argued that the category of the aesthetic developed by Kant directly pertains to certain central questions of the continental tradition from him to German Idealism, Heidegger, Freud, the Frankfurt School, and contemporary critical thought. By refocusing Kantian notions in this way, this study presents a reading of Kant that, along with several other contemporary accounts (Lyotard, Derrida, Lacoue-Labarthe, F. Proust), gives priority to Kant's aesthetic "turn" and views it as the very backbone of the critical philosophy. Such a reading moves in opposition to an entire tradition that cites Kant's authority on the "autonomous rational subject," on the Enlightenment legacy, on modernity and its project, and that condemns the "tendency to aestheticization'' as counter-Enlightenment and < previous page page_vii next page > < previous page page_viii next page > Page viii contrary to the Kantian project itself (see, e.g., Habermas). Although the aim of this study is to expose the numerous indications throughout Kant's entire work that point to the "aesthetic" interpretation, it also seeks to impart new impetus to philosophical reflection on the subject of temporality and the self as linked to the aesthetic. Problematized by Kant, this theme has been taken up again by Heidegger, Freud, the Frankfurt School, and more recently still by French critical theory. The outline of this work is as follows, in the introduction I try to do two things: situate my own reading of Kant within the context of contemporary questions and interpretations; and situate the Kantian project (as I see it) within the context of the history of philosophy. Chapter 1 ("System") takes up the question of the unity of Kant's thought and the place of the Third Critique in it. Chapters 2 ("Sensus Communis") and 3 (''The Sublime") offer close readings of Kant's text. The conclusion ("Language") represents an attempt to outline a Kantian theory of language on the basis of these readings. I am grateful to Amy Mullin, Deborah Esch, Anthony J. Cascardi, Andrew Cutrofello, and Peg Birmingham, who read this work in whole or in part and offered their criticisms and suggestions and much-needed encouragement. Nothing could have gone as well as it has without the help of my friend, Richard Dancy, who scrutinized the whole manuscript several times and made a number of shrewd and careful observations that I have tried to incorporate. Thanks are due to the staff of the State University of New York Press for their help and understanding and in particular to Clay Morgan, Jane Bunker, and Marilyn Semerad; I would like to add a special word of appreciation for their patience in the face of delays. Lastly, I thank Rebecca Comay who helped me in more ways than I can indicate with any acknowledgment. < previous page page_viii next page >
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