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Subject: In Goethes Auge - Perception, Ontology and Aesthetics of Colours – A Book
Presentation - 28.05.25 - 11:00-13:00 - B0305, NiG
Date: 26.05.2025 13:22
From: Raphael Gustavo Aybar Valdivia <raphael.aybar(a)univie.ac.at>
To: News <news(a)lists.philo.at>at>, Vdp <vdp(a)lists.philo.at>
Dear all,
You are cordially invited to the following event:
In Goethes Auge - Perception, Ontology and Aesthetics of Colours - A book presentation
Anastasia Klug (Humboldt Universität Berlin)
When: 11:00-13:00 - Wednesday 28 May 2025
Where: Room B0305, Neues Institutsgebäude (NiG), Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien
Language: Englisch
Abstract:
Goethe spent many years working on colours, about the way we perceive them, the way they
appear in nature, and the way they can be conceptualized from a physical point of view. In
1810 he published his Theory of Colours (Farbenlehre), a non-classificable work about the
nature of colours, and, last but not least, their aesthetical value. Indeed, Goethe was
primarly interested into colours for aesthetical reasons, even if the scientifical debate
about the nature of light plays a decisive role in his investigations. He famously
attacked Newton’s theory about the physical heterogeneity of white light and postulated
instead that what makes colours appear, is what he calls the polarity between light and
darkness. Through the years, this theory led him to the idea that colours can form
complementary couples that are particularly harmonious, i.e. that are able to produce
valuable aesthetical effects. In Goethes Auge – Wahrnehmung, Ontologie und Ästhetik der
Farbe analyses Goethe’s conceptualization of colours as an autonomous aesthetical mean,
which permits a radical new artistical use. This publication shows both the originality
and the philosophical importance of Goethe’s way to understand colours. What is at stake
is the link between perception, which implies a material point of view, and aesthetical
judgement in the sense of Kant and Schiller, which is something more than a mere
well-being sensation. Goethe’s approach reveals itself as an original position in the
German philosophical landscape, characterized by idealism: his Theory of Colours replaces
the human being in the nature and its material dimension, without sacrificing or reducing
the spiritual side of human existence.
Best regards,
Raphael Aybar
--
MSc. Mag. Raphael Aybar, BA
Scientific Coordinator
Vienna Doctoral School of Philosophy
University of Vienna
Universitätsstraße 7, B0301
1010 Wien
+43-1-4277-46020
https://vd-philosophy.univie.ac.at/
vd.philosophy(a)univie.ac.at
raphael.aybar(a)univie.ac.at