Kant

Kant writes: "If we judge objects merely according to concepts, then all representation of beauty is lost." (p. 106).

What Kant is saying here is that when objects are left to representation, the imagination sees them as it pleases and thus beauty can be found. I think that he is saying that as our imagination fails, our senses fail as well, and all beauty is lost.

This idea relates to Kant's idea that "That which pleases the senses in sensation is pleasant." If we do not imagine what an object is, then we do not fully experience its beauty in our senses, and therefore we cannot be pleased by the object.

I think that Kant's arguments come full circle. He starts describing his ideas, and then adds on to them, and then again. In the end, he seems to end up right back where he began his argument.

I can relate to the discussed concept of Kant when I look at a photograph. If it is a photograph that I took, I look at it and imagine what it was like at the time the photo was taken. This makes the picture all the more beautiful. When I look at a photograph that someone else has taken, I do the same thing. Only this time, I am imagining what the situation was and experiencing it for the first time with all my senses. Once I have done that, when I look at the photo, it is all the more beautiful to me.

Another way that I relate to the idea that Kant proposes is when I am experiencing nature. When I go somewhere natural, I often have a memory that I associate with it and will call that memory to mind when I am in that same setting. If I have not experienced something in a particular setting, I often will experience something beautiful when I am there. When I see a picture, or am in that same setting again, I will imagine the beautiful experiences I have, my senses will be awakened, and I will find beauty and pleasure in the image I am wittnessing.