Beyond the Autonomy-of-Art Paradigm: On Georg W. Bertram’s Relational Aest

TL;DR: This study explores Georg W. Bertram's relational aesthetics, challenging the autonomy-of-art paradigm by positing art as a human practice that expands knowledge through practical reflection, establishing its specificity and material contribution to human experience.

Abstract: The paradigm of the autonomy of art has been dominant in the last three centuries. It posits that art and literature exist independently from social, political, or moral functions, emphasizing its self-referential nature and intrinsic value. Rooted in the aesthetic theories of Immanuel Kant, this view holds that art should be appreciated for its formal qualities and internal logic rather than its utility or ideological content. One important challenge to this paradigm is posed by the German philosopher Goerg W. Bertram (1967-), who views art as a human practice. In this sense, there is a continuity between ‘ art ’ and ‘ nonart ’ . The present study, thus, explores Bertram’s unstudied contributions to the field of aesthetics. It explains how he attempts to construct a nonreductive and sophisticated aesthetics, by indicating to what extent art is seen as a special practice of reflection, more specifically practical reflection, in a move that establishes, according to him, the specificity of art. For Bertram, art makes a specific contribution to human practice because it expands knowledge in a sensible and material way. By establishing a theory of relational aesthetics, Bertram seeks to articulate a theory of art that could avoid the shortcomings of the previous ones.