Baumgarten’s Aesthetics

With contributions by leading scholars in the field, this book is the first collection in the English language devoted to Baumgarten’s aesthetics.

The German philosopher Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten (1714–1762) introduced “aesthetics” as a new science in his Reflections on Poetry (1735) and developed this new part of philosophy in a series of later works, culminating in his unfinished Aesthetics (1750/1758). This volume is the first collection of essays in the English language devoted to Baumgarten’s aesthetics. The essays highlight the distinguishing features of Baumgarten’s aesthetics, situate it in its historical context, document its reception, and examine its contributions to contemporary philosophy.

Introduction

J. Colin McQuillan

1.Baumgarten’s Invention of Aesthetics

Ursula Franke

2. Baumgarten’s Aesthetics: Topics and the Modern Ars inveniendi

Stefanie Buchenau

3. Beauty and Appearance in Baumgarten’s Metaphysics and Aesthetics

Matthew McAndrew

4. Baumgarten’s Conception of Aesthetic Truth in the Aesthetics

Angelica Nuzzo

5. Pietist Aisthēsis and Moral Education in the Works of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten

Simon Grote

6. Wolffian Rationalism and Baumgarten’s Aesthetics

J. Colin McQuillan

7. The Co-Founding of Aesthetics: Baumgarten and Meier

Alessandro Nannini

8.An Exercise in Humanity: Baumgarten and Mendelssohn on the Importance of Aesthetic Training

Anne Pollok

9.Herder’s Engagement with Baumgarten

Hans Adler

10.The Majesty of Cognition: The Sublime in Baumgarten, Mendelssohn, and Kant

Robert R. Clewis

11.The Discipline of Aesthetics is the Aesthetics of Discipline: Baumgarten from Foucault’s Perspective

Christoph Menke

12.The Happy Aesthetician and the Feminist Killjoy: Baumgarten and Ahmed

Amelia Hruby