Objective Beauty and Subjective Dissent in Leibniz’s Aesthetics

According to the classical view, beauty is grounded on the universe’s objective harmony, defined by the formula of unity in variety. Concurrently, nature’s beauty is univocal and independent of subjective judgement. In this paper I will argue that, although Leibniz’s view coincides with this formula...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Carlos Portales
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Helsinki University Press 2018-03-01
Series:Estetika
Online Access:https://estetikajournal.org/articles/171
Description
Summary:According to the classical view, beauty is grounded on the universe’s objective harmony, defined by the formula of unity in variety. Concurrently, nature’s beauty is univocal and independent of subjective judgement. In this paper I will argue that, although Leibniz’s view coincides with this formula, his philosophy offers an explanation for subjective dissent in aesthetic judgements about nature. I will show that the acceptance of divergences on aesthetic value are the result of a conception of harmony that includes qualitative variety and dissonance.
ISSN:2571-0915