Artworks as Organic Wholes: A Goethean and Hegelian Concept of Art
Abstract
This chapter identifies a fundamental concept of art shared by both Goethe and Hegel. According to both, an artwork is best understood as a kind of “living,” organic whole, rather than a mere artifact. I focus this investigation on what it means, on their considered views, for the artwork to present itself as having an animating (beseelt) form and that exists “in and for itself” (an und für sich selbst). This conception of the artwork as an animate whole sheds light, I suggest, on a kind-normativity, where the artwork itself stands as a kind of autonomous whole, and a self-emergent, authoritative presence, setting interpretive norms on the perceiver and interpreter. I discuss several examples of artworks and focus on Goethe’s own discussion of architecture drawn from both the early and late stages of his career. An important question is how certain works present themselves as mere artifacts, while others present themselves as art.
Abstract
This chapter identifies a fundamental concept of art shared by both Goethe and Hegel. According to both, an artwork is best understood as a kind of “living,” organic whole, rather than a mere artifact. I focus this investigation on what it means, on their considered views, for the artwork to present itself as having an animating (beseelt) form and that exists “in and for itself” (an und für sich selbst). This conception of the artwork as an animate whole sheds light, I suggest, on a kind-normativity, where the artwork itself stands as a kind of autonomous whole, and a self-emergent, authoritative presence, setting interpretive norms on the perceiver and interpreter. I discuss several examples of artworks and focus on Goethe’s own discussion of architecture drawn from both the early and late stages of his career. An important question is how certain works present themselves as mere artifacts, while others present themselves as art.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Abbreviations VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Goethe, Faust, and the Power of Tragedy
- Goethe on Tragedy 11
- Philosophy of Tragedy: Schiller and Hölderlin 37
- Goethe and Hegel: Faust and the Phenomenology of Spirit 63
-
Part II: Art, Meaning, and Aesthetic Formation
- Artworks as Organic Wholes: A Goethean and Hegelian Concept of Art 85
- Transparency and Enigma in the Age of Goethe 115
- Sentimental Symbolism in Goethe’s “Alexis und Dora” 139
-
Part III: Nature and the Divine
- Beautiful Creatures: Schiller and Goethe on Animal Freedom 165
- Goethe’s Demonic Idealism and Elective Affinities 181
- The Problem of God in Goethe’s Gott und Welt 197
-
Part IV: Imagination, Memory, and Becoming in the Age of Goethe
- Intuition and Comprehension: Productive Imagination in Fichte and Goethe 225
- Experiments in Becoming 245
- Rhythms of Memory: The Mnemosyne Palimpsest 269
- Contributors 293
- Index 297
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Abbreviations VII
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: Goethe, Faust, and the Power of Tragedy
- Goethe on Tragedy 11
- Philosophy of Tragedy: Schiller and Hölderlin 37
- Goethe and Hegel: Faust and the Phenomenology of Spirit 63
-
Part II: Art, Meaning, and Aesthetic Formation
- Artworks as Organic Wholes: A Goethean and Hegelian Concept of Art 85
- Transparency and Enigma in the Age of Goethe 115
- Sentimental Symbolism in Goethe’s “Alexis und Dora” 139
-
Part III: Nature and the Divine
- Beautiful Creatures: Schiller and Goethe on Animal Freedom 165
- Goethe’s Demonic Idealism and Elective Affinities 181
- The Problem of God in Goethe’s Gott und Welt 197
-
Part IV: Imagination, Memory, and Becoming in the Age of Goethe
- Intuition and Comprehension: Productive Imagination in Fichte and Goethe 225
- Experiments in Becoming 245
- Rhythms of Memory: The Mnemosyne Palimpsest 269
- Contributors 293
- Index 297
