Comparison Of Zhu Guangqian And Li Zehou’s Theory Of Aesthetic Sense

Zhu Guangqian and Li Zehou make important contributionsto the development of aesthetics as the leading figures incontemporary aesthetics and the learning of the aestheticthoughts of these two scholars will lead us to a deepunderstanding about beauty. Psychological aesthetics is theaccurate summary of the early aesthetic thoughts of ZhuGuangqian, who confirms the provision of integrating emotionsand images in arts in Croce’s “intuitionism”, emphasizessubjects’ important roles in aesthetic activities and regardsaesthetic sense as the main focus in his aesthetic study duringhis accepting of the Marxism; meanwhile, the theory ofaesthetic sense becomes the quintessence of Zhu Guangqian’saesthetic thoughts naturally. Li Zehou, whose aestheticthoughts are famous for its philosophical aesthetics constructsa complete system of “the subjective practical aesthetics” based on the practice theory in Marxism, which has greatinfluence on aesthetics in the1980s. But he emphasizes thataesthetic sense is an important part of aesthetics study all thetime and turns his study focus to the exploring and the analyzingof aesthetic psychology. Psychological aesthetics andphilosophical aesthetics are two different ways of studyingaesthetics, but these two aesthetic scholars both regard theaesthetic sense as the important part in aesthetic study, whichis enough to arouse our thinking.A look back at the development of Zhu Guangqian and LiZehou’s aesthetics makes it clear that they both emphasizestudying beauty from aesthetic sense in their early aestheticstudy and express their viewpoints on aesthetic senseunceasingly. Zhu Guangqian starts from the aesthetic subject,emphasizes the subjective intuition towards aesthetic sense，realizes the sociality of aesthetic sense and the deriving ofaesthetic sense from the happiness that comes from theproductive labor process and has a deeper understanding ofaesthetic sense’s effects on beauty during his learning andaccepting Marxism. By comparison, we can find out that theseideas are consistent with Li Zehou’s ideas about aestheticsense. Besides, these two scholars’ aesthetic studies are continuously influenced by the western ideas and the Chineseclassical culture and they both restate the aesthetic sensestudy’s importance in dealing with aesthetic issues. Overall,Zhu Guangqian’s aesthetic study can be considered as the studyof aesthetic activity and his idea that “beauty is the unity ofsubjectivity and objectivity” emphasizes more on the subjectivefactors; while Li Zehou’s subjective practical aestheticsfocuses more on analyzing the essence of beauty and finallyends up with analyzing the psychological structure of humanculture. This shows these two scholars are consistent witheach other in aesthetic thinking ways and their studyingdevelopments and they both emphasize that aesthetic sense isthe focus of aesthetic study, which profoundly enlightens us todeal with the dilemma of present aesthetic study that partlyprobes of the essence of beauty.Seen from the development of Chinese aesthetics, scholarshave advocated studying beauty from aesthetic sense and evenputting forward the idea that beauty is aesthetic sense as farback as the period of the Republic of China. After the foundingof the People’s Republic of China, aesthetic sense issues arenot correctly criticized as they are long constrained by thecritiques of idealism and materialism. Until in the1980s and 1990s, some scholars start to restudy the mysteries ofaesthetic sense under the impact of the aesthetic trend. Theaesthetic study direction’s turn to aesthetic psychology isconsistent with the direction of western aesthetics, whichcenters on aesthetic experience. The direction consistencypromotes us to rethink the relations between beauty, aestheticsense and aesthetics. On the one hand, beauty is vast, itsexistence cannot be independent of subjects, any subject willbe called an atheistic object as long as it has aestheticattributes and can arose pleasure and beauty is only a conceptabstracted out from aesthetic object. On the other hand, beautyonly manifests in aesthetic sense and needs the judging andidentifying of aesthetic experience. Therefore, both theaesthetic developments home and abroad and thecharacteristics and the relations between beauty and aestheticsense prove that the validity and the possibility of studyingbeauty from aesthetic sense.