On the Arts

by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Henry Paolucci (translator)

HEGEL: ON THE ARTS (Selections from G.W.F. Hegel's AESTHETICS OR THE PHILOSOPHY OF FINE ART)
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(From jacket front flap of the 1979 edition)
HEGEL: ON THE ARTS is an introduction to the diverse world of artistic beauty, as presented by the most influential thinker of modern times.

Hegel (1770-1831) was the founder of modern systematic aesthetics. No other philosopher since Aristotle offered such profound insights into the nature of artistic beauty, and none since Hegel's time has matched him in showing architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and literature to be an organic progression, a total world, one shared with religion and philosophy.

Here is Hegel himself, comprehensively brief, and in his own words. His lectures on fine art have been pruned to their living core, and are expertly translated. These are the philosopher's basic ideas on the nature of artistic beauty and the system of the arts, fully representative of the best in Hegel.

The translator's extended introduction provides valuable background for the reader new to these stimulating ideas.
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Paolucci's (government and politics, St. John's U.) abridgement of the German philosopher's work was first published in 1979 as part of the Milestones of Thought series. It includes a 15-page introduction placing Hegel (1770-1831) in historical and intellectual context and Asthetik in the context of his overall work. It is not indexed.

Annotation © Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Genres: Philosophy, Art, Nonfiction, German Literature, Classics, Germany, Reference

200 pages, Hardcover

Published April 1, 1979

About the author

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) was a German philosopher and one of the founding figures of German Idealism. Influenced by Kant's transcendental idealism and Rousseau's politics, Hegel formulated an elaborate system of historical development of ethics, government, and religion through the dialectical unfolding of the Absolute. Hegel was one of the most well-known historicist philosopher, and his thought presaged continental philosophy, including postmodernism. His system was inverted into a materialist ideology by Karl Marx, originally a member of the Young Hegelian faction.

Reviews

[Hanieh Sadat Shobeiri]

2/5

یونان، یونان، یونان! همش یونان!
همه چیز از یونان آغاز می‌شه، در یونان اوج می‌گیره و در یونان به پایان می‌رسه! اوج شعر، یونانه! اوج رمانس، یونانه! اوج حماسه، یونانه!
آغاز، اوج و پایان فلسفه در یونانه! هر حرفی که فیلسوف‌ها تا الان زدن، جوابی به ارسطو و افلاطونه!
هنر مُرده! به پایان رسیده! هنرمندان و تفکر هنرمندانه از ۳۰۰۰ سال پیش تا الان پیشرفتی نداشته که!
بخاطر این تفکر یونان‌پرستانه‌ی هگله که تمام فلسفه و هنر اروپا انگار توی یونان باستان گیر کرده و نه تنها حاضر نیست سرشو از توی کاخ رویاهای یونانیش بیاره بیرون، بلکه ادوار بعد از اون رو حتی قبول هم نداره؟
فکر می‌کنم آدم‌ها همیشه ترجیح دادن یک چیز گنگ (در اینجا یونان باستان) رو به عنوان خدا انتخاب کنن و بهش سجده کنن و توی ذهنشون مدام بهش مقام بدن. اگر هم تو بخوای اعتراضی بکنی، یا بی‌سوادی و به اندازه کافی مطالعه نداشتی یا این‌که شعورت اونقدر پایینه که "سخن بزرگان" رو نمی‌فهمی!
موقع خوندنش خونم به جوش اومده بود و توی رگ‌هام قل‌قل می‌کرد!
حقیقت تلخ این‌جاست که تو به عنوان دانشجوی فلسفه باید این مزخرفات رو مطالعه کنی و سعی کنی بفهمیشون. بعدش حق انتخاب با خودته؛ یا این حرف‌ها رو قبول کنی و در جامعه‌ی فلاسفه مورد احترام واقع بشی، یا بهشون انتقاد کنی و مثل شوپنهاور از این جامعه طرد بشی و افسردگی بگیری!
حقا که فیلسوفان در زندانِ فلسفه، در همان غاری به سر می‌برند که افلاطون ما را از ظلمت آن می‌ترساند؛ جایی که از حقیقت جز در پیکر سایه‌هایی بر دیوار نمی‌توان باخبر شد...


فلسفه ی هنر، نوشتهٔ هگل، ترجمهٔ نیلوفر آقاابراهیمی، انتشارات تمدن علمی.

[Kate]

Good fun as an intellectual exercise, but not particularly applicable to real, live art.

[Robin Goossens Verburgh]

Hartverscheurend onleesbaar

[Lina]

Ik startte dit boekje niet voor mijn plezier, maar raar maar waar, raakte ik na een tijdje doorbijten toch wat meegesleept. Hegel blijft complex, maar Francis zal tevreden zijn

[Karl Hallbjörnsson]

I'm gonna have to read this one again someday, preferably in a philosophy course at school - but don't get me wrong, I felt that I understood the otherwise clunky and obscure text well enough - I simply would like to partake in discussions regarding the subject matter. I'll take up some more Hegel soon, I think. He has an intoxicatingly grand view of the universe and our role in it.

[April]

Cant go one page without this guy being racist but I guess his theories about art and philosophy are still important I guess

[Merel Vanquaille]

klets

[Robinne]

Niet lezen met een kater….

[Rina]

Not the easiest read ever, but extremely insightful! Even now, after two centuries and countless revolutions in the philosophy of art, this book has a lot to offer. Some ideas may be out of date and are fascinating more from the historical point of view, but many of Hegel's thoughts still hold to this day, and couldn't be expressed better.

[Casey]

een mooi boek voor mensen die achtergrond(kennis) hebben bij kunstbeschouwing, voor niet-kunstige mensen is dit boek wellicht wat hoog gegrepen. al moet wel gezegd worden dat de inzichten op sommige punten algemeen toepasbaar zijn en tot interessante gedachten aanzetten.

[fien :)]

you could explain this whole book in less than five minutes but bro needed 104 pages

[Oğuzhan Çakıroğlu]

gerek yok

[Irem Akdeniz]

Çok zor 🥲 anlayamadığım bir kitap oldu. İlk sayfada zone out olup son sayfada geri gelebildim.

[Ismail Kettani]

ليس هذا الكتاب من النوع الذي يُقرأ بسرعة، بل من الكتب التي تدفعك إلى التوقف كثيرًا للتفكير.
يحاول هيجل أن يجيب عن سؤال يبدو بسيطًا: ما هو الفن؟ لكنه يقود القارئ إلى رؤية أعمق، حيث يصبح الفن تعبيرًا عن روح الإنسان والتاريخ، وليس مجرد وسيلة للمتعة أو الزخرفة.
قد تبدو لغة هيجل معقدة أحيانًا، لكن الأفكار التي يطرحها تجعل القارئ ينظر إلى اللوحة، أو الموسيقى، أو الشعر بطريقة مختلفة.
إنه كتاب يحتاج إلى صبر، لكنه يكافئ قارئه برؤية فلسفية ثرية لمعنى الجمال ودور الفن في حياة الإنسان.
كتاب مهم لكل من يهتم بالفلسفة والفن، لكنه ليس أفضل نقطة بداية لمن يقرأ هيجل لأول مرة.

[Colin Cox]

I recently read one of the most challenging texts in the Western philosophical canon, Hegel's Phenomonology of Spirit. As an extension of this accomplishment, I decided to reread an earlier, and from my observation, less-cited Hegel text, Lectures on Aesthetics, which my Barnes & Noble edition calls The Philosophy of Art. The composition of the text is fascinating. Unlike Phenomonology of Spirit, one of Hegel's students, Heinrich Gustov Hotho, compiled Lectures on Aesthetics from Hegel's lecture notes. This textual mediation feels distinctly Hegelian. Furthermore, there are moments from Lectures on Aesthetics that echo ideas Hegel develops in Phenomonology of Spirit. For example, when Hegel writes, "The Beautiful is now no longer poured into external formations, but has returned from externality into the inner consciousness of the individual mind" (29) sounds similar to how Hegel conceptualizes the infinite, which is to say, we must think of the infinite as grounded in the finite.

As I mentioned earlier, this Barnes & Noble edition has more than Hegel's text. It also includes an essay from one of Hegel's students, C. L. Michelet. This essay, which is longer than Hegel's text, functions as an "extensive elaboration of Hegel's ideas" (vii). The inclusion of Michelet's essay troubles Hegel's text, if for no other reason than it misleads readers to think Hegel's text needs Michelet's. That is to say, Hegel's Lectures on Aesthetics and Michelet's essay need not be a package deal, but the editor's inclusion of Michelet's text and the naming convention The Philosophy of Art, suggest otherwise.

[Kyle Goetz]

I rate it low only because the book is advertised as Hegel but not even half the book is Hegel. More than half is another philosopher. I bought this book to read Hegel, not someone else (one of his students apparently). Will have to buy something else instead.

But the section by Hegel is interesting, although he fails to anticipate innovations in art. for instance, Hegel says music improves upon painting by introducing the concept of time, which is a limitation of painting. but cubism specifically does innovate to introduce time into painting. So I don't think Hegel has in this book captured the progression of art toward it's highest form adequately.

[Sebastião]

Penetrar no universo hegeliano da arte e da estética configura-se como o início de uma viagem por um imaginário fascinante. Há muita sabedoria em Hegel e há ainda um elemento de premonição que é surpreendente. Por vezes, todavia, também há uma certa fixação e limitação em redor do tal imaginário hegeliano que circunscreve o potencial de alcance do seu pensamento. Não obstante, trata-se de uma obra muito interessante e cativante.

[Marco Sán Sán]

Sorprende la discreción o falta de desarrollo del concepto "estética" aunque el registro de su desempeño atreves de su escalada exposición arquitectura, escultura, pintura, música y poesía es brillante y esclarecedor para quien atiende a lo que realmente describe esta escalda. Aunque sigo curioso por su discreción en el desarrollo conceptual, tal vez sea mera elegancia y respeto ante el respetable. No espetaba esto aquí pero vaya que siempre Hegel deja algo en su inmenso trabajo.

[Müslim]

... Güzellik ve hakikat bir anlamda özdeştirler. Güzel, özellikle kendi içinde hakikat olmak zorundadır. Ama hakikate ve güzele daha yakından bakıldığında onların aynı zamanda farklı olduklarını görürüz.

...Çünkü otantik sezgi ve iyi yetişmiş bir ruh, yalnızca hakikatin ve temel olanın karşılığı olan gerçekliği fenomenler içinde kantlayarak ve göstererek beğeni duyar.

[betulsenaayar]

stephen dedalusla tanıştıktan sonra artan estetik sorularımdan sonra hegelin estetik düşüncelerini ilk elden tanımak istemiştim. kitap uzun bir süre önce elime hediye olarak ulaşmasına rağmen daha yeni okuma fırsatı bulabildim.

[Hazal]

Okumasi agir kitap, cevirmenin kotu cevirdigini dusunuyorum. Yarim biraktim. Okucak cok kitabim var sonra belki geri donerim. Tavsiye etmem. Vakti cok ,okucak kitabi olmayan guzel sanatlarla ilgili arkadaslar okuyabilir.

[Dilek]

Mimariyle başlayan sanat, heykel, resim, müzik ve söz (şiir) ile devam ediyor. İdea olarak sanatın özü vurgulanıyor. Öncelikle doğada var olan sanattan bahsediliyor. Daha sonra modern sanatın ilkeleri ve varoluşu anlatılıyor.

[Rani Buyse]

Zo een filosoof die dit hele boek in 5 zinnen had kunnen neerpennen, maar door zijn voortdurende shizzle heeft dit mij weken gekost.
Ik haat Hegel nu meer dan de persoon die statistiek heeft uitgevonden.

[Amber]

An argument beginning with the belief that Art is imitation of Nature and ending by stating that Art has reached its logical end. Covers the Beautiful, the Ideal and the Divine. Heady, but good.

[Aladdin Aldair]

Don’t bother

[Sadra]

هنگام خواندن این کتاب موضوعاتی که بیشتر نظرم را جلب کرده بودند، مشکلات عجیب ویراستاری و جمله‌های طولانیِ نامفهوم بودند.

[Kyria]

I DID IT

[Azra Alp]

Klasik bir Hegel kitabı, fakat kısaltılmış versiyonları yerine iki ciltlik Payel’den çıkanları daha iyi…

[Emre]

hegel sucks

[Elisa de Clippele]

rust, roest?

Bis repetita placent.

- solo un grande MIND game -