Aesthetics and philosophies of art

Overcoming metaphysics, overcoming aesthetics? The question about art in

Heideggers thinking
Carolina Andrea Donnari
Argentina
Universidad Nacional del Sur- Conicet
carodonnari@gmail.com
Abstract:
In the following paper, I will propose that the overcoming of metaphsics implies an overcoming
of aesthetics as a metaphsical, modern-!orn discipline. "owever, this overcoming of aesthetics
does not mean eliminating the #uestion a!out art. $n the contrar, it e%presses the need of re-
thin&ing art from an originar perspective, since "eidegger considers that artists can guide us
towards a non metaphsical e%perience of 'eing. Conse#uentl, overcoming aesthetics and
overcoming metaphsics could !e regarded as one and the same tas&.
Metaphysics, aesthetics, art, truth, Being
!aper
In his posthumous wor& Beitrge zur Philosophie, (artin "eidegger states) *+he #uestion of the
origin of the wor& is ,-. intimatel connected with the tas& of overcoming aesthetics and that means
simultaneousl with overcoming a certain conception of !eings as what is o!/ectivel representa!le.
$vercoming of aesthetics again results necessaril from the historical encounter with metaphsics as
such0 1"eidegger, 2334)5678. As we read these lines, we can9t avoid #uestioning wh this tas& of
overcoming aesthetics is so important for the :erman philosopher. And, mostl) what does it
have to do with what we &now is "eidegger9s main concern, that is, the #uestion a!out 'eing;
In the following paper, I will propose that the overcoming of metaphsics implies an overcoming
of aesthetics as a metaphsical, modern-!orn discipline. "owever, the overcoming of aesthetics
does not mean eliminating the #uestion a!out art. $n the contrar, it e%presses the need of re-
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thin&ing art from an originar perspective, since "eidegger considers that artists can guide us
towards a non metaphsical e%perience of 'eing. Conse#uentl, overcoming aesthetics and
overcoming metaphsics could !e regarded as one and the same tas&.
In order to develop this appreciation, it is necessar to !egin ! pointing out how "eidegger
understands metaphsics. "e descri!es it as the <estern conception that has mista&enl
identified 'eing 1Sein8 with !eings 1Seiende8, therefore forgetting that there is an *ontological
difference0 !etween them. (etaphsics has understood 'eing, what is fleeting, as a stead
su!stance= it understands 'eing as something that is merel present. "eidegger, instead, thin&s
that 'eing is given >that is, it is present in the form of !eings- !ut it also refuses itself 1 sich
etzieht8 in the same movement. +his means that we alwas comprehend 'eing from the hori?on
of time, !ecause 'eing has a histor, 'eing is histor. (etaphsics is an epoch of the histor of
'eing 1Seinsgeshichte8, in which 'eing itself has !een forgotten 1"eidegger, @66A8.
According to "eidegger, the metaphsical comprehension of 'eing has !een sustained
throughout the whole histor of western thin&ing, !ut has consolidated in modern times. In the
237B conference *+he age of the <orld Cicture0, "eidegger indicates that modernit is the age
in which the entire world turns into a picture, that is, into an o!/ect of a su!/ect9s representation
1"eidegger, 23AA!) B3-368. (odernit is, in fact, the date of !irth of su!/ect as we &now it toda.
'efore that, *su!/ect0 was a word that referred to an &ind of !eing, as the :ree& word
determined. 'ut in modernit, *su!/ect0 !egins to refer onl to human !eing. +his
change has deep conse#uences, !ecause *when ,-. man !ecomes the primar and genuine
subiectum, this means that he !ecomes that !eing upon which ever !eing, in its wa of !eing and its
truth, is founded. (an !ecomes the referential center of !eings as such0 1"eidegger, 23AA!)BB8. As man
places himself as center and measure of the universe, he considers !eings as something that is
availa!le to satisf his needs. +his process includes the #uestion a!out art, for one essential
phenomenon of modernit *lies in the process of artDs moving into the purview of aesthetics. +his
means the artwor& !ecomes an o!/ect of e%perience ,Erlebens. and conse#uentl is considered to !e an
e%pression of human life0 1"eidegger, 233A!)A58.
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"eidegger considers that the metaphsical comprehension of !eings e%tends to present times,
in the form of modern technolog. +echnolog understands !eings as Gestell, mere *enframing0
read to !e consumed 1"eidegger, @666)@68. In the shape of modern technolog, metaphsics no
longer thin&s 'eing !ut reduces everthing to the character of thing. In conse#uence,
technolog eliminates an remaining possi!ilit of e%periencing 'eing, not even in a
metaphsical wa. +his is wh "eidegger considers contemporar times as the epoch of the
ending 1Vollendung8 of metaphsics.
"eidegger considers that modern technolog represents a time of e%treme danger. +his danger,
however, does not come from the potentiall lethal machines and apparatus of technolog. +he
actual danger is that *the rule of Enframing threatens man with the possi!ilit that it could !e denied to
him to enter into a more original revealing and hence to e%perience the call of a more primal truth0
1"eidegger, @666)@38. Nevertheless, "eidegger states, #uoting "Flderlin, that where there is
danger also grows the saving power. +he e%treme forgetness of 'eing that ta&es place in the
age of modern technolog gives us a chance to overcome metaphsical thin&ing.
Indeed, "eidegger thin&s there9s an originar aspect in modern technolog, for he considers
technolog >and metaphsics as well- are *destinies0 of the histor of 'eing. "eidegger states
that, along with a misunderstanding of the true nature of 'eing, metaphsics has developed a
misconception of truth. "eidegger thin&s the traditional definition of truth as adaequatio
intellectum ad rem is /ust a derived version of the essence of truth, which consists in the
disclosedness of 'eing. In order for things to agree with our /udgment, it is necessar that
the9ve alread disclosed in what the are ! themselves 1"eidegger, 23AAa)@248. +o articulate
this originar comprehension of truth, "eidegger returns to the :ree& word , which
e%presses a disclosedness 1Unverborgenheit8 in which something alwas remains hidden
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.
(etaphsics and modern technolog are, thus, two was in which !eings disclose themselves,
two forms in which 'eing is given.
<hen we e%perience technolog as destination of the truth of 'eing, we understand that
metaphsics is not the onl wa to comprehend the world. "eidegger remem!ers that in ancient
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:ree&, was the name not onl for technolog, !ut also for art. 'ac& then, *the arts were not
derived from the artistic. Art wor&s were not en/oed aestheticall. Art was not a sector of cultural activit.
<hat, then, was art- perhaps onl for that !rief !ut magnificent time; <h did art !ear the modest name
; 'ecause it was a revealing that !rought forth and hither, and therefore !elonged within . It
was finall that revealing which holds complete swa in all the fine arts, in poetr, and in everthing
poetical that o!tained as its proper name0 1"eidegger, @666)758. According to "eidegger, art
as well as technolog is a disclosedness of truth, !ut a more primal one.
"eidegger formulates his considerations on art in 2375 conference *+he origin of the wor& of
art0. +here, he esta!lishes a connection !etween art and truth. Art must !e regarded not from an
aesthetical, !ut from an ontological point of view, for the wor& of art is, !efore anthing else, a
*put to wor&0 of the truth 1"eidegger, 23AA!)4G8. As we have seen !efore, "eidegger thin&s
aesthetics !elong to modern comprehension of 'eing. Aesthetics treat the wor& of art as an
o!/ect, as indeed an o!/ect of , of sensor apprehension in a !road sense. Hor him, on
the other hand, the wor& of art is a happening of truth, as it let !eings disclose as what the are.
"eidegger calls this disclosure that ta&es place in the wor& of art the *counterpla of world and
earth0 1"eidegger, 23AA!)7B8. *<orld0 refers to the multiplicit of meanings that the wor& of art
carries with it, to the disclosure of truth, while *earth0 stands for the reservoir of meanings that
the wor& &eeps to itself, that is, the concealment. +he truth that happens in the wor& of art is
, originar truth. +his originar happening of truth in the wor& of art is a first step towards
a non metaphsical comprehension of 'eing, as for "eidegger 'eing and truth are the ver
same event. Considering the wor& of art not from an aesthetical, !ut from an ontological
perspective ma !e the !eginning of a new understanding of everthing that is.
According to "eidegger, to overcome 1berwinden8 metaphsics is to ma&e a turn 1winden so
that we can twist metaphsical comprehension of 'eing 1"eidegger, @666)GA8. +his also means to
ta&e a step !ac&wards 1Schritt zurc!8 from current thin&ing to the origin of philosoph, in order
to thin& what in metaphsics has remained unthought) the essence of 'eing, not as su!stance
!ut as event, as Ereignis 1"eidegger, 2334)268. "eidegger sas this is a tas& for the *thin&ers0,
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who pa attention to the call of 'eing. 'ut thin&ers are not the onl protagonists of "eidegger9s
#uest towards an authentic e%istence. +o ta&e a turn into the *other origin0 of thin&ing, poets are
also necessar.
"eidegger thin&s that, among all forms of art, Coetr 1"ichtung8 occupies an outstanding
position. +his is !ecause words are the element of Coetr, and language is the primal location
where the truth of 'eing ta&es place) *language, ! naming !eings for the first time, first !rings
!eings to word and to appearance. +his naming nominates !eings to their !eing and #rom out o# that
!eing. ,-. Coetr is the saing of the unconcealment of !eings0 1"eidegger, 23AA!)G28. Coets !ring
things into presence as what the reall are, namel, shelters of the truth of 'eing. +his is wh
"eidegger also states that man dwells the world poeticall, as he esta!lishes his residence
saving the earth, receiving the s&, waiting for the hol ones along with the other mortals
1"eidegger, @666)244-458. Coetr and thin&ing are the two essentials forms of language) poets
are the ones who can interpret the fading signs of the hol, while thin&ers name the essence of
things. +hin&ers and poets !elong together= the are li&e the !ranches of trees that rise ne%t to
each other, as neigh!ors, in the middle of a forest 1"eidegger, 23B7) 758.
As we have seen, aesthetics and metaphsics are intimatel connected, and also is their
overcoming. <hen we overcome aesthetics we transform the wa in which we understand art,
!ut at the same time we transform the wa in which we comprehend world and the wholeness
of !eings. Hor that reason, to overcome aesthetics is to overcome metaphsics. And to
overcome metaphsics means, !efore all, to learn how to dwell our world poeticall, that is, in a
more than&ful and respectful wa, leaving !ehind the dominance of modern Gestell. 'ecause
philosoph >or, as "eidegger would rather sa in his latter ears, *meditative thin&ing0- is !oth
an in#uir and a wa of living.
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1
"otes
"eidegger thin&s that 'eing and truth as the same thing= therefore, not onl 'eing gives and
refuses itself, !ut also truth. +his essential comprehension of truth as an arrangement of
disclosedness and concealment is what he names .
#e$erences
"eidegger, (., Sein und $eit 1:A @8, 1Iittorio Jlostermann, Hran&furt 23AA8
"eidegger, (., %olzwege 1:A 58, 1Iittorio Jlostermann , Hran&furt 23AA8
"eidegger, (., Vortrge und &u#stze 1:A A8, 1Iittorio Jlostermann , Hran&furt @6668
"eidegger, (., Unterwegs zur Sprache 1:A 2@8, 1Iittorio Jlostermann , Hran&furt 23B58
"eidegger, (., &us der Er#ahrung des "en!ens 1:A 278, 1Iittorio Jlostermann , Hran&furt
23B78
"eidegger, (., $ur Sache des "en!ens 1:A 248, 1Iittorio Jlostermann , Hran&furt @66A8
"eidegger, (., Beitrge zur Philosophie 'Vom Ereignis 1:A G58, 1Iittorio Jlostermann ,
Hran&furt 23348