Freud's Aesthetics (Psychoanalytic Approach in Art Research)

Author: (American) Speckter, translated by Gao Jianping
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-06-01
Features: In the current so-called knowledge economy era, the pressures of real life are growing increasingly intense. People not only need various useful knowledge as means to find employment and make a living, but also require aesthetic wisdom as a support for self-redemption. This kind of wisdom, in the realm of artistic expression, helps to achieve creation from nothingness or to break conventions and establish something new; in terms of spiritual life, it helps to cultivate a taste for appreciating the myriad things or aesthetic freedom for self-entertainment. With this wisdom, people can hope to restore their true self-knowledge, improve their quality of life, and further see the true essence of life in calm seas and still waters, recognize the nature of the mind in faint tastes and sparse sounds, listen to the natural melodies of heaven and earth in the rustling of pine trees and the sound of springs on rocks, and perceive the marvelous art of the universe in the misty light at the grassy edges and the reflections of clouds in the water. In environmental design and artistic decoration, one can savor the elegance and beauty, and from fine works such as calligraphy, painting, chess, and music, as well as dance, one can gain various aesthetic experiences. It is worth mentioning that in Western cultural tradition, love of wisdom is philosophy, and wisdom has two wings. One is the theoretical focus on contemplation and reflection, and the other is the practical approach of taking concrete actions. This original meaning has endured for over two thousand years, evolving in Croce's spiritual philosophy into a "two categories, four dimensions" system. Following this line of thought, the human pursuit of wisdom in cognitive activities is divided into two major categories: theory and practice.