Kunst og Erkendelse: Kunstfilosofiske Betragtninger

by K.E. Løgstrup

Det andet bind i rækken af K.E. Løgstrups hovedværk bestående af fire metafysikbind. Bogen rummer Løgstrups æstetik, hvor han hævder, at kunstens udgangspunkt er det stemte, sansede indtryk, hvis betydningssvangre indhold overføres i værkets bundne udtryk. Kunst er erkendelse, og den kommer primært til udtryk gennem form, komposition og andre æstetiske virkemidler. Sansning og stemthed er afgørende for kunstværket, mens forståelsen synes at indtage en sekundær plads. Kunsten er i sit væsen etisk, dvs. der må altid i god kunst være en distance til destruktive og privatiserende kræfter i tilværelsen.

"Med et udtryk fra Nietzsche kunne man om Løgstrups tanker sige, at de er utidssvarende. De svarer ikke til tiden, ikke fordi tiden ikke har brug for dem, men fordi de går på tværs af, hvad tiden mener, den har brug for."
H.C. Wind, Weekendavisen.

110 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

About the author

Knud Ejler Løgstrup (1905–1981) was a Danish philosopher and theologian.
Løgstrup was an ethical intuitionist who was critical of rule-based ethics of the type advocated by Immanuel Kant. In other words, he disliked ethical systems which try to determine basic moral laws.
Løgstrup mentions philosopher Stephen Toulmin's example of an everyday situation: "I have borrowed a book from John and the question is now, why should I give it back today as I promised him?", Toulmin asks in order to derive more general moral rules. But if I give John back his book because "I should always keep my promises" or because of the more general rule "I should never lie", I treat him as a means; this is unethical, as well.
Morality is not about rules, but about the so-called 'sovereign expressions of life'. All men have an intuitive feeling of right and wrong. 'Sovereign expressions of life' includes feelings and actions as open speech, trust, compassion, mercy, and love. These phenomena are intrinsically good. A good example is open speech. Even when secret police are searching an apartment, the people living there cannot help but speak with the police sergeant, because it feels intuitively natural to do so.
Moral laws are only substitutes for intuition in situations where these intuitive feelings fails to lead to action. For instance, the Golden rule is a substitute for compassion.
So, Løgstrup takes the opposite point of view to Kant, who believed that moral laws are the only truly moral basis for action, and that natural desires can never be moral.