Aisthesis

Abstract

The Greek concept of aisthēsis refers both to phenomena of sensuous perception that relate to the five senses and to sensuousness in general. This ambiguity reflects the complexity of the concept. Early modern empiricist theory of knowledge considered aisthēsis primarily from the point of view of the epistemological function of sensation. As such, it also became established as a theme for sensuously oriented psychology. Phenomenology refers back to these different significations. From the starting point of a concept of sensation (Empfindung) with an empiricist coloring, sensuousness reaches a position of very high importance in phenomenological theory as the region of original experience. It is not least through the acknowledgment of phantasmatic and kinaesthetic sensation that an implicit broadening and differentiation of aisthēsis is brought about. This is important for the understanding of experience in general and of aesthetic experience and aesthetic subjectivity in particular.