Kant and the Aesthetic Dialogue with Nature
In §42 of the Critique of Judgment, Kant claims that nature "figuratively speaks to us in its beautiful forms". Based on Kant's careful choice of words, it can be assumed that this description is not merely a figure of speech, but a genuine attempt on Kant's part to find in nature the possibility of perceiving the meaning of beauty in accordance with the way in which human beings respond aesthetically to it. This raises several questions: What exactly does nature express in its beautiful forms? Do the beautiful forms in nature have semantic power, or is it just our way of interpreting nature? And if nature is indeed speaking to us in its beautiful forms, how do we know how to respond to that expression in a way that is consistent with the meaning embodied in those forms? This paper proposes to examine our aesthetic dialogue with nature through the expression and response it embodies. By analyzing the enigmatic language in which natural beauty "speaks" to us in "ciphers," "hints," "traces," and "signs," on the one hand, and the ways in which we must be attentive to and recognize these hints and signs in order to provide a response to such beautiful forms, on the other. I argue that our aesthetic dialogue with the beauty of nature, if successful, has a moral significance. The purpose of this paper, then, is to show how this moral significance emerges from our aesthetic dialogue with nature.
Dr. Moran Godess-Riccitelli is a postdoctoral fellow at Bar-Ilan University and an independent research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Potsdam. Her main interest in philosophy is the confluence of aesthetics and morality in Kant and German Idealism, and its expression in both theoretical inquiry and practical attitudes.
Godess-Riccitelli received her Ph.D. in philosophy from the School of Philosophy, Linguistics and Science Studies at Tel-Aviv University in 2017. Her dissertation explored the productive functions of the power of imagination in Kant’s critical philosophy, and its necessity for moral practice. She has published numerous articles on aesthetics, morality, and moral theology in Kant.
