Kantian Aesthetics

Kantian aesthetics revolves around the idea that beauty is not just subjective personal preference but involves a universal experience of pleasure. He distinguished between the beautiful and the sublime: beauty is found in harmony and proportion, while the sublime arises from overwhelming greatness or power, stirring feelings of awe. Kant believed true aesthetic judgment is disinterested—free from personal desire—allowing us to appreciate art and nature objectively. This notion of aesthetic objectivism suggests that certain qualities in an object can evoke similar feelings across different viewers, grounding our experiences in shared human capacities for reflection and judgment.