The Absolute as Art - lecture #2 slides

Philosophy of the SpiritLecture #2The Absolute as Artwww.hegelcourses.com © 2010Three perspectives:RealismExpressivismFormalismHegel's Theory of ArtBasic Principle of the Absolute Spirit:The concept of the Spirit has its reality in the SpiritSubjective Spirit:Starts with: human being as part of natureEnds with: Free SpiritDifference between knowledge and subjectObjective SpiritStarts with: free spirit recognizing itself in an objective social worldEnds with: the State within world historyOpposition between knowledge and subjectAbsolute SpiritMode of consciousnessObject: the whole as developedAbsolute SpiritIdeaTotality of beingAbsolute Spirit (2)Immediate consciousness: ArtSelf-consciousness: ReligionSelf-understanding: PhilosophyWhat is Art?Sensuous representation of the ideaAesthetic objectivism: beautyNot: mimesisBetter: Vor-stellung = presentationWork of Art=Sign of the ideaA sensuous representation that acts like a sign of the idea and therefore presents it. Par. 556 The shape of this knowledge is, in so far it is immediate (the element of the finite in Art) …on the one hand a breaking up into a work of a common external existence, in the subject that produces it and the subject that perceives and reveres it, …and on the other hand the concrete perception and representation of the absolute Spirit in itself as the Ideal -(which is) the concrete shape that is born out of the subjective Spirit, in which the natural immediacy is only a sign of the idea, …when it has been declared to be this expression by the imaginative Spirit, because the shape does not indicate anything other than this - the shape of beauty. Par. 556Translation: William WallaceAs this consciousness of the Absolute first takes shape, its immediacy produces the factor of finitude in Art. Par. 556On the one hand, that is, it breaks up into a work of external common existence, into the subject which produces that work, and the subject which contemplates and worships it. Par. 556But, on the other hand, it is the concrete contemplation and mental picture of implicitly absolute spirit as the Ideal.RepresentationIn itselfPar. 556In this ideal, or the concrete shape born of the subjective spirit, its natural immediacy, which is only a sign of the Idea, is so transfigured by the informing spirit in order to express the Idea, that the figure shows it and it alone: - the shape or form of Beauty.SUMMARYArt is the expression of the Absolute Spirit as immediate consciousnessIt uses representational contents that are signsIt presents the idea as the idealIt falls apart into the work and the subjective intelligence of artist and observer.