Phenomenology Between Aesthetics and Idealism

Phenomenology between aesthetics and idealism is a short, informal, historical introduction to key themes and thinkers in the phenomenological tradition of European philosophy. Concentrating on the ‘transcendental’ and the ‘aesthetic’ the author highlights the phenomenological tradition’s connections to Kant’s thought and to the tradition of philosophical idealism more generally in the figure of Hegel. By outlining some key issues raised by phenomenological and hermeneutic philosophers in relation to earlier idealists, in connection to aesthetics and the philosophy of art, the author is able to highlight some of the key theoretical parameters of modern European philosophy. Phenomenology between aesthetics and idealism discusses figures, such as Mikel Dufrenne, who are not normally covered in short introductions to phenomenology and aesthetics, but who are nonetheless important to the historical development of this rich philosophical tradition. Also discussed are thinkers like Benjamin, Deleuze and Derrida, who critically reacted to, extended or abandoned key aspects of the phenomenological philosophies associated with Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty.