Aesthetics and Cultural Philosophy

Focus Area: Cultural Philosophy

Ernst Cassirer, Georg Simmel and other early 20th century thinkers recognised that culture is not merely an arbitrary object of study, but the medium through which we understand the world, within which scientific thought itself occurs. For philosophy, this means that it too cannot adopt an external perspective but finds itself situated within a plurality of interpretations of the world. Cultural philosophy, therefore, should not be viewed as a specialised discipline within philosophy but as an attempt to conceptualise philosophy as a whole under the conditions of modernity, within the medium of culture. By integrating philosophy into multiple worldviews it can only develop through engagement with other forms of world interpretation and their respective reflections on science. As a result, an interdisciplinary approach is a necessary consequence of this understanding of cultural philosophy.

However, human beings exist not only within culturally mediated, historical meanings but also within a network of social relationships. The structure of these relationships and the various forms of social coexistence are the focus of social philosophy, which is also taught by the chair.

Focus Area: Aesthetics

It is not immediately obvious that we should think of art when we consider aesthetics. The word "aesthetic" originates from the Greek “aesthesis”, which initially simply meant "sensory perception". The term was introduced by Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten in the 18th century to establish a distinct field of investigation in philosophy that focuses on the sensory aspect of knowledge acquisition. In a narrower sense, aesthetics can also refer to the theory of beauty and the philosophy of art, though these approaches often stem from reflections on perception. Some of the questions explored in courses within this area include: What is beauty? What is art? How is art related to knowledge? How do art and nature interact? What is the relationship between art and morality? What is aesthetic experience?