On Hegel Artistic Self-concept

Artistic autonomy is a historical concept, which came into being in the processof social modernization. With the transformation of traditional society into themodern society, social division of labor, commercialization, marketization,institutionalization, and modern individualism, etc. promote the formation of artisticautonomy concept.Art undertook certain social function in traditional society, serving for thereligious, political and other fields; while in modern society, art is required to beindependent from other values, achieves its independence, and gets autonomy. Theconcept of autonomy derives from the interpretation of Kants moral principles. Itrefers to the will of its own legislation, and then Kant saw the autonomy on theinnate principles when he made appreciation judgment on the basis of reflectivejudgment. Consequently, artistic autonomy concept entered into aesthetic field.Modern Art is to get its autonomy by emphasizing its social function steering intoaesthetic function. Thereby, it delineates the independent value field.Generally speaking, Kants Aesthetics established the theoretical basis of ModernArtistic autonomy. However, the understanding of Kant from the appreciationjudgment perspective had limitations. Kant failed to clearly explain the differencebetween artistic beauty occurrence and pure judgment of appreciation. AlthoughKant recognized that not all the beauty human products belong to art, it takes thebeauty of the arts as pure appreciation judgment when emphasizing the distinctionbetween artwork and general human products. Thus, in order to put an end forpeople to put the other types of judgments (such as the perfection of rationaljudgment) into art appreciation, he stressed that art should be the pursuit of formalbeauty. This view is a threat for the establishment of modern artistic autonomy. First,if the artistic beauty does not distinguish with pure appreciation judgment, then theart will lose value in the aesthetic field. Second, autonomy is self-legislation. If the arthopes to get autonomy, it must answer how to be self-disciplined. But Kant alsoadmits that the pure appreciation judgment can not make a human product become works of art. Third, it will lead to the modern art losing its meaning depth. But for the"meaning" of modern art, in fact, can not be evaded.As the product of the process of modernization, the artistic autonomy isimpacted by modernity profoundly. Modernity is a complex concept, from the levelof the artistic autonomy; it is a tension structure where the contradictions betweenEnlightenment Modernity and Aesthetic Modernity exist.On the one hand, with the effect made by the rationalism of Enlightenmentmodernity on the penetration and constraints of social life, the aesthetic function ofart is strengthened and is required to be an aesthetic salvation against rationalviolence. On the other hand, as the aesthetic modernity, the inherent requirement ofart needs it to reflect, question or even deny the Enlightenment modernity. In thisway, in art appreciation, if it is only to make a pure appreciation judgment, therequirements of aesthetic modernity can not be achieved. In essence, aestheticmodernity determines the internal artistic autonomy embodied in aesthetic featuresand reflection function contradictory structure. Kants aesthetics remain on the levelof the appreciation judgment, and the discussion of the artistic beauty from thesingle point of view can not be unified. The original aim for the establishment ofModern is intended to emphasize that the aesthetic function can delineate anindependent area for art activities, but the independence of artistic activity can notrepresent the autonomy of works of art, definitely not the artistic autonomy. As aresult, it led to the Modern Art get into the trouble in the post-modern environment:art make the aesthetic functionality to the extreme, refused the meaning depth. Inthe commercial environment, it is reduced to the simple beauty goods, losing theirown independent value; as opposite side to highlight the reflection function, takinganti-art as art, or even questioned the reason why the artistic autonomy exist, willcompletely abolish the boundaries of art and non-art.The artistic autonomy has to sustain itself within this tension structure. It mustrely on the unity of the aesthetic and reflection function as the basis of theautonomy of art activities. Hegelian Aesthetics cuts from this point, from thedevelopment of artistic beauty, to lay the foundation for the unity of the aesthetic function and reflective function. Hegel holds that because Kant believes the thing cannot know itself and the point whether the form is purposeful or aimless in nature isalso unknowable, so the discretion of reflection and rational is completely subjective.The subject and the world were still in a fragmented state. Consequently, althoughKant realized art was a rational free innovation, he did not clarify the uniqueness ofartistic beauty. The rational was stayed out of the appreciation judgment, but itplayed a crucial role in artistic beauty. Kant failed to see the role of rationality in thebeauty of art. He believed there was no proper corresponding between reality andform, purposeful and aimless. But in the arts, the art itself was the reasonablecreation, which determined the existence of such a correspondence should be atleast in the artworks. It was precisely because this correspond that made artisticbeauty different from pure appreciation judgment. Hegel understood the beauty ofart into the perceptual appearance of the absolute idea. This absolute philosophy isthe mind. The mind gradually realized itself in accordance with the dialectical logic inthe world, to see itself, to complete the unification of the self and the world. Thisprocess produces three absolute areas: philosophy, religion, art. Present itself thedifferent ways based on the mind, what corresponds with the art is beauty. Hegelenhance the artistic beauty to the inevitable universality height of the self-realizationsoul, making the art get the irreplaceable position in the interface between truth andaesthetic fields.At the same time, because the mind can determine itself, can make decision byitself, that is can be self-legislated; artistic beauty as one of the form of mind at ease,it helps art to get independent legislative power so that the art can determine itself.This provides the real foundation of the artistic autonomy-art can make legislationfor itself. Art has established the dialectics between the content and form accordingto the unity principle of concept and reality. The unity of artistic content and form oestablished autonomy of the works of art: the art form protects the aestheticfunction t from the perspective of appreciation judgment, which is the independenceof the art in the field of truth; artistic content protects the reflection function of thearts from the angle of meaning occurrence, which is the independence of the art in the aesthetic field. The unity of the reflection function and aesthetic function, as theautonomy in artistic activity level, protects the artistic autonomy within the tensionstructure with the influence of modernity. Ever since, Hegelian Aesthetics hasprovided a new path for the re-establishment of artistic autonomy.