Kant, Critique of Aesthetic Judgment (1790): The version we are reading presents Kant's account of beauty and the sublime as two distinct aspects of aesthetic experience. Kant defines the features that he believes can be associated with aesthetic judgment, explores whether such judgment is possible, and examines how it mediates between theoretical and practical aspects of human cognition.

Given the impenetrable nature of this text, I am guessing that Kant's contemporary audience was a very small group of "learned men" found throughout Europe (Germany, France, England). Like his audience, Kant is interested in finding a rational way to harmonize the dualities traditionally associated with human experience. His moves in this text allow him to define aesthetic judgment (read sensation or sensate perception) as a cognitive activity with the same usefulness and validity as pure reason or practical reason.

Once I realized that Kant is continually trying to mediate rather than simply categorize, I felt that I could grasp a little bit more of this text. I also think I now understand why some contemporary art installations feature machines that vibrate: could these objects have been designed to invoke the oscillating nature of the sublime? Hmm...

I have an infinite number of questions, but in this moment I am primarily caught up with the connections between aesthetic judgment and moral culture that Kant advances near the end of this text. It smells like Darwin's theories of evolution: only the most moral cultures are fit enough to develop or foster aesthetic judgment. Would this interpretation work with what we know of Kant? How will this thread play out as we move on?