The first view holds that the object of aesthetic research is beauty, and aesthetics is a science about beauty. [1] is represented by Hong. This view was put forward by him in the 1950s [2] and has been adhered to. His main reasons are as follows: ① From the perspective of aesthetic history, he thinks that the historical development of aesthetics itself shows that aesthetics first appeared as a science with the special task of studying human perceptual knowledge, and has always maintained a kind of "science about beauty". [3] (2) From the perspective of distinguishing aesthetics from art, it is absolutely necessary to completely distinguish between aesthetics and art, emphasizing that aesthetics should be aesthetics and aesthetics should be different from art [4] (3) From the perspective of practical functions, it is considered that in order to expand the application field of aesthetics, it is worthy of being a comprehensive and complete science about beauty, strengthen the extensive and close relationship between this science and people's lives, and make socialist communist education serve all aspects of people's lives more and better. [5]④ From the perspective of methodology, we think that the source of all art is life, and we must first understand art. Then, how can we study the beauty of art without first understanding the beauty of reality? [6]
This view pays attention to the particularity of aesthetic research object, which is different from art; At the same time, it also pays full attention to the aesthetic mass reality, and artistic beauty can only be a reflection of realistic beauty. However, it is obviously narrow and one-sided to define the object of aesthetic research as "beauty". In my opinion, this "beauty" mainly refers to the beauty of reality, not including other beauty.
The second view holds that the object of aesthetic research is art, and aesthetics is the philosophy of art, represented by March and Zhu Guangqian. March thinks that aesthetics is an artistic view and a general theory about art, which not only studies some problems in art, but also comprehensively studies all aspects of artistic theory. It is not only to study the theory of departmental art, but to summarize the general theory of departmental art. Its basic problem is the relationship between art and reality, aiming at solving the special contradiction between art and reality. Therefore, he directly named his own aesthetic anthology Essays on Philosophy of Art.. [7] Zhu Guangqian believes that aesthetics must be centered on art. Only by understanding art clearly can we understand the essence of judging beauty in general real life. Their main reasons are as follows: ① From the perspective of aesthetic history, they think that most aestheticians in history pay special attention to artistic beauty and often name their works "Philosophy of Art". From the perspective of practice and methodology, it is considered that art is a highly concentrated expression of beauty, and it is easier to grasp the essence of beauty by studying beauty from art. ③ From the perspective of social function, it is considered that artists are engineers of human soul, and art has its great and profound educational function. [8] Of course, the two also have different emphases.
This view fully notes that art is the main object of aesthetic research; And also noticed the difference between aesthetics and art, which is dialectical to a certain extent and has a guiding role in the rise of "image" aesthetics later.
The third view holds that aesthetics is a science that studies aesthetic relations. Represented by Zhou, Zhou and Zhou. There are differences in their understanding of aesthetic relationship. Jiang Kongyang believes that the aesthetic relationship between man and reality is the fundamental issue of aesthetic research. Aesthetics is a science that takes art as the center and mainly studies the aesthetic relationship between man and reality through art, as well as the aesthetic consciousness generated and formed in this relationship [9]. In fact, aesthetics here is a science of studying art, which is similar to Zhu Guangqian's point of view. Zhou believes that it is an inevitable trend of aesthetic development to take the aesthetic relationship between aesthetic subject and object as the object of aesthetic research. At the same time, it is believed that aesthetic relationship is not only a cognitive relationship, but also a cognitive relationship. It is not only an ethical practical relationship, but also the third relationship between practical relationship and cognitive relationship. [ 10]
This view focuses on the factors and relations of the interaction between subject and object in aesthetic activities. In other words, aesthetic activities are treated as a complex organism.
The fourth view holds that the object of aesthetic research is aesthetic experience. Represented by Gao Ertai. He believes that without the aesthetic experience of the subject, we can't understand beauty or art because the aesthetic feeling and beauty (including artistic beauty) outside the subject simply don't exist. [ 1 1]
This view pays more attention to the subject of aesthetic activities, especially to the constructive role of subjective emotional activities in aesthetic activities. But here "beauty" and "aesthetic feeling" are essentially the same thing, which confuses the essential difference between subjectivity and objectivity of aesthetic feeling.
The fifth view holds that aesthetics is a science that studies beauty and art with aesthetic feeling as the center. Represented by Li Zehou. It turns out that in the 1950s, he advocated that aesthetics should basically study the beauty of objective reality, people's aesthetic sense and the general law of artistic beauty. Among them, artistic beauty should be the main object and purpose of research, because human beings mainly reflect and grasp beauty through art and make it serve the great cause of transforming the world. [12] In the 1980s, his understanding of the object of aesthetic study made new progress. It is believed that today's aesthetics is actually a combination of philosophy of beauty, aesthetic psychology and sociology of art, and philosophy of beauty is a discussion of beauty and art from a philosophical perspective. Aesthetic psychology is the center and subject of the whole aesthetics; Sociology of art develops its own research through the center of aesthetic experience. The study of artistic beauty is the study of materialized psychological structure. Therefore, aesthetics is a science that studies beauty and art with aesthetic feeling as the center. [ 13]
This view locates the object of aesthetic research from the aspects of people's metaphysical pursuit, historical investigation and psychological process, and notices the different levels of aesthetics in people's life, which is reasonable to some extent.
The sixth view holds that aesthetics is a science that studies aesthetic activities and their laws. Represented by Ye Lang and Jiang Peikun. They all think that human aesthetic activity is a special practical activity. Ye Lang believes that taking aesthetic activities as the object of aesthetic research is to break through the narrowness of previous views and expand the world of aesthetic research. At the same time, it is believed that aesthetic activity, as a kind of spiritual activity of human beings, is infinite in many aspects, but the most important thing is to form its modern aesthetic system in eight aspects, and its core is aesthetic psychology, aesthetic art and aesthetic philosophy. [14] Jiang Peikun believes that contemporary formal aesthetics theory should be a science to explore and study all aspects of human aesthetic activities and their universal laws. Beauty is not pre-formed, but generated. Therefore, we should not proceed from the transcendental definition of "what is beauty", but from the simplest, most basic and most certain facts and from the analysis of aesthetic activities to develop the aesthetic discipline system. Contemporary aesthetics is from thinking to argumentation, from analysis to synthesis, from general epistemology to practical ontology, and integrates and unifies the main aesthetic disciplines in history on the basis of practice. This requires an empirical study of the occurrence and historical development of human aesthetic activities, and then studies and explores the aesthetic relationship between subject and object in aesthetic activities, as well as aesthetics in art and aestheticization of people themselves. [ 15]
The seventh view holds that the research object of aesthetics is human life or survival or existence. Represented by Yang,,. They admit that aesthetic activities are the research object of aesthetics, but they are essentially different from the previous understanding of aesthetic activities. Aesthetic activity is a kind of transcendental life activity which is based on and transcends practical activities. [16] Aesthetics is the highest interpretation of life. Aesthetics is a meditation on how the existence and transcendence of human life are possible. This also means that aesthetics must pay attention to the relationship between aesthetic activities and human life activities, and pay attention to the interpretation of ontological significance, existential significance and life significance of aesthetic activities as a way of life. It does not ask how beauty and aesthetic feeling are possible, how aesthetic subject and aesthetic object are possible, nor how aesthetic relationship and art are possible, but how aesthetic activity is possible as the highest way of human existence, and constructs a super-aesthetic system around this problem, in which life is aesthetics and aesthetics is life. [ 17]
It is an important difference between this view and the above view that aesthetics is regarded as the highest noumenon of human beings and the way of human life existence, and that aesthetic activities are characterized by rationality and irrationality. This has a great impetus to the deepening of aesthetic research, and it is a manifestation of aesthetics better intervening in life and responding to the needs of the times.
The eighth view holds that the object of aesthetic research is aesthetic culture. In recent years, with the development of economy and the formation of market economy concept, people began to measure the value of products (including material products and spiritual and cultural products) by the size of consumption. Obviously, the elite aesthetics, which only pays attention to metaphysical pursuit and "narcissism", has been given a cold shoulder. In order to promote the change of aesthetics, dispel metaphysical doubts and meet the needs of the times, a large number of scholars summarize the research object of aesthetics as cultural activities, that is, aesthetic culture. [ 18]
Aesthetics is essentially a study of life. It is the unshirkable responsibility of aesthetics to intervene in life, beautify life, guide human practice and creative activities, pursue a better future and promote the progress of human society. "Culture" itself is the "product" created by human beings according to the law of beauty, which is one of the characteristics of human beings and the confirmation of human life creation. In other words, "culture" is the crystallization of human constant aesthetics. Therefore, there is great consistency between aesthetics and culture. Especially the high level of cultural aesthetics in contemporary life makes people realize that aesthetics has entered life. Of course, generalizing aesthetics into aesthetic culture often loses its nature.
The above viewpoints are reasonable, but the advantages and disadvantages are self-evident. It seems too narrow to define aesthetics as art or aesthetic feeling. It is inaccurate to define the object of aesthetics as beauty, and its scope is also very vague. It seems too broad to define aesthetic objects as life activities or culture. In my opinion, it seems more practical to take aesthetic activities, aesthetic relations or the study of beauty and art centered on aesthetic feeling as the research object of aesthetics. However, more in-depth research is needed. The object of aesthetics should be aesthetic activities, but also people's practical activities. It is a process of unity of sociality and naturalness, rationality and sensibility, reality and transcendence. And this activity or process focuses on art.