A Song Of Confusion And Annoyance: Kant On The Beauty Of Absolute Music
Kant's evaluation of music in the Critique of Judgement stands as a blemish on an otherwise appealing system of judgments of beauty and of assigning aesthetic worth. In order to resolve this tension, I will present an argument in three parts. First, I will delve further into Kantian judgments of beauty to provide solid contextual grounds for why he draws his conclusions about music and will further elaborate on his various positions concerning music. Second, I will look at a few potential answers for the problem of music given by others in the philosophy of music and briefly evaluate their effectiveness. Third, I will turn to my answers for the central hurdles preventing Kant from classifying music as a beautiful/fine art form: the problems of representation, content, and beauty being symbolic of morality.
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