A Study Of The Unity Of Subject And Object In Dufrenne's Aesthetics

The unity of the subject and object is the core of Dufrenne's whole system of philosophy and aesthetics. In the Phenomenology Movement initiated by Huserl and targeted at transcending the thinking pattern of the subject-object dual opposition, which has been prevalent since Descartes, Dufrenne develops the ideas of Huserl, Heidegger, Jaspers, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and Kant, and he starts to probe his own way—the unity of the subject and object—in the aesthetics field. Dufrenne starts with exploring the relationship of human and world, finally gets to the establishment of Nature Philosophy in processing of the idea of the unity of subject and object.Dufrenne expresses his idea of unity of subject and object among the aesthetic object, aesthetic perception and aesthetic experience and so on. Specifically speaking:In the theory of aesthetic object, Dufrenne tries to carry out the thought that the aesthetic object is the result of the unity of the subject and object. He takes the aesthetic object as perception object by the synthesis of Huserl and Merleau-Panty's intentionality theory. What's more, he believes that the aesthetic object could only be found in the aesthetic perception and it will no longer exist without aesthetic perception, which makes the aesthetic object become a result of the interaction of the subject and object. The main factors of the aesthetic object include sensuous, meaning and mode. Dufrenne thinks that sensuous is co-behavior of the perceiver and the perception object, and so sensuous is a behavior of the unity of subject and object. Though the meaning of aesthetic object is given by its subject, Dufrenne holds the objective view about aesthetic object. In his opinion, the form is"the shape of the system composed by the subject and the object", so every aesthetic object's form is decided by the subject and his communication with the world. Dufenne regards aesthetic object as a"quasi-subject", which is"in-itself-for-itself"and exists"for us", it makes up a relation of communication with the appreciator. So it goes beyond the limits of the traditional aesthetics in this problem. Since the aesthetic object is not ready-made, there is a question about the way how it comes into being. Dufrenne thinks the aesthetic object comes through the performance. The performer's performances make his subjective consciousness and the work of art united, and creator's performance makes his subjective consciousness and the soul of his work, and the spectator's performance units the spectator and the object in some degrees. The world of the aesthetic object makes the human return to the origin of the subject and object's unity and realizes the harmony of people and the world.Dufrenne's aesthetic perception theory always takes it as a target to transcend the subject-object opposition thinking mode. He creatively combines the predecessors'thoughts together, develops the perception theory of phenomenology into the aesthetic perception'studying field. Dufrenne considers the aesthetic perception as a special perception, which is obtained by the contrast with the common perception. Usually people can get to the conclusion that the subject and object are united through the factors, functions and characteristics of the aesthetic perception. This is completely different from the common perception, in which the subject is opposite to the object. Dufrenne tries to overcome the limits of the subject-object opposition thinking mode through the imagination and the rational factors in the aesthetics perception. And he absorbs Kant's transcendental theory, divides the imagination into the transcendental imagination and the empirical imagination. In his point of view, the former provides the possible room for image and brings out the objective possibility, while the latter determines the objectivity of the image. In general, Dufrenne tries to get the conclusion: though imagination is man's subjective ability, the imagination and the imaginary can be objective. About rational factors, Dufrenne believes that understanding in the aesthetic perception is a subject and object, perceptual and rational unified process. The adherent reflection in the aesthetic perception makes the appreciation to be no longer the process that either subject or object aims at controlling the other one. It can be a deeply communicating course. The biggest characteristic of understanding and reflection is not to be a leading one, that is to say, the process of aesthetic perception is not dominating by the subject but the process of the unity of subject and object under the fully respect the objectivity of aesthetic object.Dufrenne expresses the unity of his thought of subject-object in the aesthetic experience theory through the problems of the aesthetic depth, the aesthetic truth and the affective transcendentalism. As a kind of aesthetic experience form, aesthetic depth is the product by the collision between the depth of the subject and the object. The level that it can reach reveals in the deepest harmony of the aesthetic experience. Through the exploration of the creation, the work and the appreciation, Dufrenne expresses his idea about the art's truth. The truth of the creation is the unity of the subject and his works; the truth of the work is proposed from the point of appreciator, which is to fulfill their needs; the truth of the appreciation is a kind of identity that is subject to object when the aesthetic subject is immersed in the world of the aesthetic object. As far as Dufrenne is concerned, the affection a priori can result in the communication of the subject and the art works, the communication of the different aesthetic subjects.In a word, Dufrenne sticks to the unity of the subject and object in the aesthetic field. His study of the unity of subject and object of aesthetic object, aesthetic perception and aesthetic experience expands the study scope of Huserl phenomenology, and promote the liquidation process of the thinking mode of subject-object dual opposition in western modern philosophy. Although there is some shortcomings in his studying system, we can see, under the development of Dufrenne, the method of aesthetic activity studied from the unity of subject and object which has ever put forward by Hegel, more and more widely is used in the study of aesthetic activity and has become the spring of strength for modern aesthetic researchers, which is the great value of Dufrenne'theory.