Francis Hutcheson On "Aesthetic Object"

Francis Hutcheson(Francis Hutcheson,1694-1746)was the first American aestheologist to publish systematic aesthetic Monographs in modern England.He published the book "An Inquiry of The Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue" in 1725,and was considered as the founder of modern western aesthetics.As far as the development process of the history of western aesthetic thought is concerned,the background of Hutcheson's aesthetics is the transformation of philosophical tradition from ontology to epistemology,which is the internal motive force that dominates and promotes the study of "aesthetic objects" as aesthetic issues by Hutcheson's aesthetics.Once Hutcheson's aesthetics make this change,it can also be regarded as an important indicator of modern English aesthetics.As far as the internal structure of Hutcheson's aesthetics is concerned,the study of the "aesthetic object" or the origin of beauty from the "aesthetic object" constitutes the important content of Hutcheson's aesthetics.Therefore,both from the perspective of philosophical history and from the internal structure of Hutcheson's aesthetics,it is of great significance and value to study the "aesthetic object".The biggest difference between Hutcheson's aesthetics and the aesthetics of the former Hutcheson era is that the former gives the natural object a special aesthetic position and regards the natural object as the "aesthetic object",while the latter never gives the natural object a positive and independent aesthetic value,and even puts natural objects in a low position,therefore,natural objects can not be regarded as "aesthetic objects" and exist in the latter's aesthetic theory.On the basis of the analysis of the "aesthetic object" of the former Hutcheson era,this paper will gradually clarify what the aesthetic objects of aesthetics in the former Hutcheson period are and what is the "aesthetic object" in Hutcheson's aesthetics.After a comparative study,it is found that when Hutcheson's aesthetic "the object of beauty"is a natural object,it constitutes Hutcheson's aesthetics differs from predecessors in the issue of aesthetic objects.This paper will focus on natural objects as aesthetic objects,and study their causes and manifestations.How does the object become an effective "aesthetic object"?This thesis holds that the "sense of beauty" in Hutcheson's aesthetics endows the natural object as the theoretical subjectivity of "aesthetic object".After a comprehensive discussion of the "aesthetic object" discussed by Hutcheson's aesthetics,this paper will also evaluate Hutcheson's unique contribution to the "aesthetic object",and point out the limitations of Hutcheson's research on the "aesthetic object" in this process.This paper holds that Hutcheson's aesthetics regards natural objects as "aesthetic objects".On the one hand,it means that Hutcheson's aesthetics opens the door of naturalism aesthetics,on the other hand,Hutcheson's aesthetics has promoted the awakening of the subject sense of the aesthetic study for the first time in the history of western aesthetics,and it opened the door to the rise of subjectivism aesthetics.At the same time,this paper also points out that the study of"aesthetic object" by Hutcheson's aesthetics has two limitations,namely,the error of the path of aesthetic research and the failure to effectively distinguish the boundary between aesthetics and natural science.