After Kant, and especially after Kant’s romantic disciples, art came to be viewed as a matter of beautiful appearance, consciously defined in contrast to practical reality. This had not always been the Western conception of art. Gadamer comments, “Traditionally the purpose of ‘art,’ which also includes all conscious transformation of nature for human use, was to supplement and fill the gaps left open by nature. And ‘the fine arts,’ as long as they are seen in this framework, are a perfecting of reality, not appearances that mask, veil, or transfigure it.” A painting or poem, in this view, does not hide reality but reveals its true character. Once art is seen as appearance, however, it floats free of reality, and becomes an autonomous realm of its own.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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