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Immanuel Kant is a very well-known philosopher from Germany. This philosopher was
not only famous in his country but was one of the central figures of the Enlightenment thinkers.
He is known as a man of deep insights on comprehension and systematic works in epistemology,
metaphysics, ethics and aesthetics. These knowledges made him as an influential and
controversial character in modern Western philosophy. Before Kant, Western culture viewed
beaty as objective and was powerfully influenced in Plato’s and Aristotle’s thinkings. And the
beauty was closely related with religion. Some important keywords were divine, moral and
symmetry. But as time passed, the new philosopher appeared, it was Kant. He had several
different perspectives on beauty. For Kant, beauty was subjective, and he emphasized a lot the
cognitive experience of beauty. Kant mainly claimed that the perception of beauty, or
"judgment," requires imagination and doubt. Beauty is subjective in that it has no conceptual
basis and purpose in that it is related to the "form" or "configuration" of an object. The
homogeneity of aesthetic experience comes from the interplay of imagination and
misunderstanding that goes beyond simple conceptual rules. In this regard, Kant argued that
there are four categories of aesthetic judgments. The four categories were Moment of Quality,
Moment of Quantity, Moment of Relation, and Moment of Modality.
Kant and the Beauty
Unlike Plato and Aristotle, Kant states that the appreciation of beauty depends on the
“disinterested pleasure”. In other words, beauty is enjoyed without personal interest. This is the
first category of Kant, the moment of quality. This means that beauty isn’t sensed because of its
purpose or benefits but just because of the aesthetic qualities. The second moment that Kant
argues, is the moment of quantity. In easy words, it means that beauty has universal agreement.1
According to Kant, judgement of quality has a universal quality. For example, if someone says
1 Reiter, Aviv, and Ido Geiger, “Kant’s Missing Analytic of Artistic Beauty.”, 363.
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that something is beautiful, then other people will state the same thing and agree that it is
beautiful. In a broad context, beauty is known as something that cannot be clearly defined. This
insight has been present for a long time ago. And Kant states that the judgment of beauty
depends on each individual who adheres to it. 2 In the times of Plato and Aristotle, the person
who perceived beauty did not give his personal opinion. But according to Kant’s argument, the
one who sees beauty can intervene to give meaning to beauty.3 So, it creates an interplay of
understanding and imagination, which increases the experience of engaging with aesthetics
(beauty), emotion, and cognition. Despite the fact that beauty makes various stimulations, Kant
states that even thou beauty seems to be purposeful; it doesn’t have any practical purpose in the
end.4 And this the third moment of relation argued by Immanuel Kant. And this concept focuses
on the formal quality, such as harmony, symmetry, and proportion.5 So practically it is not
emphasizing the utility of beauty. The last moment that Kant argues, is the moment of modality.
This fourth moment is also known as the moment of universality. In this one, Kant argues that
universal agreement of beauty is important. 6 And the second moment is the support and
evidence for this concept. Technically, most people share the same nature and similar cognitive.
So, naturally when someone defines something as beautiful, they feel that others ought to agree
with their judgment. Besides the four moments, Kant also distinguished beauty and the sublime.
2 Reiter, Aviv, and Ido Geiger, “Kant’s Missing Analytic of Artistic Beauty.”, 363.
3 Reiter, Aviv, and Ido Geiger, “Kant’s Missing Analytic of Artistic Beauty.”, 366.
4 Reiter, Aviv, and Ido Geiger, “Kant’s Missing Analytic of Artistic Beauty.”, 363.
5 Reiter, Aviv, and Ido Geiger, “Kant’s Missing Analytic of Artistic Beauty.”, 367.
6 Reiter, Aviv, and Ido Geiger, “Kant’s Missing Analytic of Artistic Beauty.”, 370.
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Both beauty and sublime are considered as aesthetic experience but differed in intellectual and
emotional impact.7
The Impact on Western Culture
Based on the knowledge mentioned above, it can be known that Kant had great influence.
And his influence went all over Western culture. The main impact of Kant on Western Culture is
that the understanding of beauty has shifted from objective to subjective. It led Western culture
to put more emphasis on the emotion and intellectual response of each individual. Also, Kant
inspired others to frame beauty as part of philosophy. So that many people started questioning
about human perception and cognition. His work influenced later philosophers as well. Kant also
encouraged evaluations of art. Before Kant the evaluations were based on practical, moral, or
political considerations, but after him people highlighted more on the intrinsic aesthetic. His
influence from Kant continues to this day. In modern times, Immanuel Kant’s theories continue
resonating in debates about the universality of aesthetic experiences. And it is still a theme to
debate about whether beauty is objective or subjective nature. But at the end Kant’s insight
encouraged the appreciation of diversity of beauty, respecting the differentiated thinking of every
individual. Although there is still no fixed answer, it is good to know that these types of debates
are still important in our studies. And that art and beauty have always been part of humanity and
have played a huge role. (909)
7 Karpinski, Andrzej, “The Concepts of the Sublime and the Saturated Phenomenon in Immanuel Kant and
Jean-Luc Marion: A Systematic Comparison Based on Their Philosophical Origins.”, 45-46.
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Bibliography
Karpinski, Andrzej. “The Concepts of the Sublime and the Saturated Phenomenon in Immanuel
Kant and Jean-Luc Marion: A Systematic Comparison Based on Their Philosophical
Origins.” International Journal of Philosophy and Theology 83, no. 1–3 (May 27, 2022):
43–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/21692327.2022.2127421.
Reiter, Aviv, and Ido Geiger. “Kant’s Missing Analytic of Artistic Beauty.” European Journal of
Philosophy 32, no. 2 (August 22, 2023): 360–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12884.
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