Emily Martin - Kant

Although Kant provides a somewhat ‘solid’ theory of aesthetic judgment, I question some aspects involved. Within the four moments he provides, the aspect of ‘disinterestedness’ is what I found most challenging to understand. Viewing his theory holistically, the notion of disinterestedness seems somewhat reasonable and necessary, however, I was challenged when delving deeper into solely the aspect of disinterestedness. Kant states that in order to aesthetically judge, one must be disinterested in what he is judging. In other term, Kant believes it is necessary to completely dissociate oneself from the work being judged. Theoretically speaking, Kant’s idea of disinterestedness seems somewhat relevant, as humans are prone to judge upon a bias of a previously held notion. As a result, Kant believes that being disinterested of completely disassociating oneself from the work will allow for a true aesthetic judgment.

This is the point at which Kant’s theory of disinterestedness began to cause issues with my belief in aesthetic judgments. I believe that Kant’s theory theoretically works however, in actuality, is far from attainable. I believe this is true because I believe that individual human cognitive states are products of society and previous experiences. And it is upon this basis that I believe it is physically impossible for one to be disinterested because for one to be disinterested, they would have to disregard all factors that have influenced them in the way they judge. Although what I may have just said may seem discombobulated, simply, I believe that for one to be disinterested would be for and individual to disregard everything that has shaped them and their aesthetic judgments.

In conclusion, I believe that although Kant’s theory may seem promising on paper, in actuality, I believe that it would never be successful in providing a guideline for aesthetic judgment because aspect such as disinterestedness are in my mind unattainable.