Introduction:

Abstract

Kant’s aesthetics is rarely discussed in relation to contemporary art. If the art world wants a philosophical framework born of German idealism, it is usually Hegel’s dialectic, with predictions of the end of history and the death of art, that is drawn upon. As several authors in this special issue observe, the lack of attention given to Kant by the art world and recent art theory is probably due to his aesthetics being strongly associated with modernist formalism, principally as a result of Clement Greenberg’s writing. Furthermore, while Kant’s treatment of the sublime might attract interest, the fact that the greater part of the Critique of the Power of Judgment focuses on beauty and judgements of taste can give the impression that his aesthetics has little to offer contemporary art. This special issue of Kantian Review aims to demonstrate the relevance of Kant to contemporary art and aesthetics. All the articles started their lives as papers presented at the ‘Kant, Aesthetics and Contemporary Art’ conference held online on 22–24 October 2020 and organized jointly by Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales, UK. The idea for a Kant and aesthetics conference and special issue came from Kantian Review editor Howard Williams. I added the theme of contemporary art because I think there is a lot in the third Critique that is relevant to it, and I wanted the challenge of addressing the lack of attention given to Kant. The articles developed from the conference and included in this special issue provide a rich display of the different paths Kant’s philosophy opens up within the contemporary. It has not been possible to include all the papers from the conference, but it is hoped that some may appear in later editions of the journal. The articles presented here divide into three themes: (1) the role of concepts in aesthetic judgement (Filieri, Vaccarino Bremner); (2) Kant and recent aesthetic theory (Zuckert, Lemos); and (3) Kant and contemporary art (Hughes, Costello, Guyer, Cazeaux). The first two articles focus upon the relation between concepts and aesthetic judgement, and show how the relation can be illustrated using encounters with modern works of art. The first article – ‘Concept-less Schemata: The Reciprocity of Imagination and Understanding in Kant’s Aesthetics’ by Luigi Filieri – draws out the role played by the schematization of the categories within the freedom of the aesthetic imagination. From claims made within the first Critique, the schematization of the categories is ordinarily taken to be transcendental preparation for the employment of a determining, empirical concept. However, as Filieri points out, it is not the