Aesthetics and Cognition in Kant’s Critical Philosophy

This volume explores the relationship between Kant’s aesthetic theory and his critical epistemology as articulated in the Critique of Pure Reason and the Critique of the Power of Judgment. The essays, written specially for this volume, revise our understanding of core elements of Kant’s epistemology, such as his notions of discursive understanding, experience, and objective judgment. They also demonstrate a rich grasp of Kant’s critical epistemology that enables a deeper understanding of his aesthetics. Collectively, the essays reveal that Kant’s critical project, and the dialectics of aesthetics and cognition within it, is still relevant to contemporary debates in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and the nature of experience and objectivity. The book also yields important lessons about the ineliminable, yet problematic place of imagination, sensibility and aesthetic experience in perception and cognition.

• Brings together Kant’s epistemological and aesthetic theories • Contains original essays by the most influential scholars working on the critiques and their relationship to each other • Highlights the relevance of Kant’s aesthetic theory to contemporary debates in epistemology and philosophy of mind

1. Introduction Rebecca Kukla; Part I. Sensible Particulars and Discursive Judgment: 2. Thinking the particular as contained under the universal Hannah Ginsborg; 3. The necessity of receptivity: exploring a unified account of Kantian sensibility and understanding Richard N. Manning; 4. Acquaintance and cognition Mark Orent; Part II. The Cognitive Structure of Aesthetic Judgment: 5. Dialogue: Paul Guyer and Henry Allison on Kant\'s Theory of Taste Paul Guyer and Henry Allison; 6. Intensive magnitudes and the normativity of taste Melissa Zinkin; 7. The harmony of the faculties revisited Paul Guyer; 8. Kant\'s leading thread in the analytic of the beautiful Beatrice Longuenesse; Part III. Creativity, Community, and Reflective Judgment: 9. Reflection, reflective judgment, and aesthetic exemplarity Rudolf A. Makkreel; 10. Understanding aestheticized Kirk Pillow; 11. Unearthing the wonder: a \'Post-Kantian\' paradigm in Kant\'s Critique of Judgment John McCumber.