Abstract

DEL VALLE, Julio. The dignity of imagination: Alexander Baumgarten and the context of the birth of aesthetics. arete, 2011, vol.23, no.2, p.303-328. ISSN 1016-913X.

The paper deals with the role of imagination in the disciplinary constitution of Aesthetics. For this purpose it is divided into three sections: the first one focuses on showing how imagination acquires a certain dignity at a specific moment in the history of western thought; the second section shows how this new status will allow, within the special historical context of Enlightenment, the birth of aesthetic reflection lead by Alexander Baumgarten. The third section of this paper focuses on showing how the aesthetic perspective implies decidedly choosing to give reflexive sensitivity a significant spot within the comprehension that man has of himself and of the world in which he is immersed.

Keywords: imagination; Aesthetics; Baumgarten; reflective sensibility; aesthetic light.