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PHL 230
Instructor: Dr. Bob Zunjic
  

IMMANUEL KANT

The Critique of Judgment
(1790)

An Outline

 

Kant's Critique of Judgment (Kritik der Urteilskraft) is arguably the most important and the most influential work in the whole history of Aesthetics. It was published in 1790. The overall goal of the Critique of the Power of Judgment (as it should read in English) was to restore the unity of philosophy that was lost due to a sharp separation of its two main provinces: the realm of theoretical knowledge (The Critique of Pure Reason, 1781) and the realm of practical knowledge (The Critique of Practical Reason, 1788). In the years following the publication of the second critique Kant became increasingly aware that the chasm between the two realms of philosophy both leaves our subjective judging out of the picture and does not allow any transition from one kind of objective judgment to another. The remedy for the rift that Kant wanted to overcome in the Critique of the Power of Judgment was to establish the judgment of taste as a disinterested, universal, purposive and necessary kind of judging while retaining its feelings related, subjective, singular, and contingent character.
This outline covers only selected paragraphs from the first part of the Critique of Judgment pertaining to the discussion of aesthetic judgments in general and the analytic of the beautiful in particular.
The electronic text of the Critique is accessible at: http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/k/kant/immanuel/k16j/

Introduction

Title: Kant uses both terms (Critique and Judgment) from the title of his work in their original meaning, not in their current usage. Thus his language should not be taken as suggesting a negative attitude ("fault finding") toward judging in terms of judgmental evaluation of things but in the positive sense of discernment regarding the faculty of relating particulars to universals (the faculty of Judgment proper) or the faculty of connecting the subject with the predicate in our statements (propositional judging).
   

III

 The Critique of Judgment as a means of combining the two parts of philosophy into a whole
   
Parts of Philosophy There are two main parts of philosophy: the theoretical and the practical. These two realms of "legislation" (our cognition imposes laws in them) derive their principles from the two corresponding cognitive faculties: the understanding (Verstand) and the reason (Vernunft). They have their own separate fields of objects (nature and morality) with their respective conceptual frameworks (necessity and freedom). There is no freedom in the world of nature - everything goes there according to the laws of necessity. In contrast, there is necessity in the world of morality even though its very existence remains incomprehensible.
The theoretical philosophy delineates the knowledge of nature according to the conditions of possible experience; the practical philosophy sets the limits of desire under the unconditional demands of moral law.
Reversal Initially Kant was convinced that these two were the only realms and the only two cognitive faculties that provide a priori legislation. He even thought that, given its empirical nature, there could not be any similar science of taste. Well before the publication of the Critique of Pure Reason he planned to write a book on the principles of feeling and taste but soon afterwards gave up the idea claiming that the plan was not feasible due to the purely empirical character of aesthetical rules.
The Middle But upon finishing his second Critique he came to the conclusion that there was a 'middle term' between these two faculties of legislating a priori. He theorized that the ultimate purposes of reason must be realizable in nature as a natural satisfaction of our desires. But this connection could be observed only by virtue of the faculty of Judgment (written with a capital J or phrased verbally: judging). "By analogy" Kant surmised that it must have its own a priori principle as well. Although it does not have its own separate realm (like nature or morality) it possesses a special "territory" of application - purposiveness in nature and art - for which the other two cognitive faculties are not suited.
So all of a sudden Kant became convinced that a similar kind of purposiveness is involved in our observation of nature and our estimation of the beautiful and he explicated them as judging of artificial or natural technology respectively. This is the reason why he decided to combine the critique of taste with a discussion of natural teleology.
Territory Note 1: Kant makes a subtle terminological distinction between these two words. Territory (territorium) is the domain in which knowledge of an object is possible, realm (ditio) is the domain where thought legislates a priori. Thus our concepts could be applied in the former but only as contingent and empirical, not a priori rules.
Note 2: For Kant, the Judgment is a faculty, not only a proposition in which a predicate qualifies the subject. Compare our ordinary admonition: "Use your good judgment!"
Bridge Now Kant contends that the faculty of judging (Judgment) bridges the gap between the two parts of philosophy. How? A reconciliation between the two is rendered possible precisely because the faculty of Judgment does not have its own realm of legislation. Owing to this lack of its own province it can be applied in the other two realms without invalidating the rigid determination of understanding and reason. In fact, it supplements them by accounting for the variety of objects that are given in experience and connecting their lawfulness with the final end of moral life.
Plan Through the power of judgment we unravel the purposiveness in the world either subjectively or objectively and we enjoy it as a sign that the purposes of reason are realizable. The particular aim in the first part of the book was to show that the judgment of taste, although subjective and aesthetical, has its own a priori principle. In the general plan of the book the demonstration of the validity of taste was supposed to serve as a prelude to the validity of purposive understanding of natural events (organisms) but it retains its independent value in explaining the notions of natural beauty and sublimity beyond this specific function of connecting the two areas of purposiveness.
Note: The structure of the complete book in its both main parts is graphically represented in a German chart at www.roman-eisele.de/phil/
The newly unified system of philosophy that includes a third part could be represented in the following way:
System  
Critique of
Pure Reason
in General
Theoretical Part PHIL
OSO
PHY Practical Part
Objective Realm Critique of Cognitive Faculties
World of Nature Understanding
Faculty of Knowing Concept of Necessity (Causation)
Critique of Pure
Reason
GULF
CHASM
Critique of Practical Faculties Objective Realm
Reason World of Morality
Concept of Freedom (Dignity) Faculty of Desire
Critique of Practical Reason
\
Judicial
/
 
Critique of Judiciary Subjective Territory
Judgment Art and Technology
Purposiveness Faculty of Feeling
 

Critique of the Power of
Judgment

   
Three Parts After adding the Critique of Judgment to his system Kant still believed that there were only two realms of knowledge, but he now contends that philosophy as the critique of cognitive faculties has three parts: the critique of pure understanding, the critique of pure reason, the critique of pure judgment.
 
Critique of Pure Understanding
Critique of Pure Judgment
Critique of Pure Reason
  This is how the titles of his three critiques should read. All three are "pure" critique as they deal only with a priori legislation. But the published titles do not read like this because at the time when Kant wrote the first two published critiques he was not sure what would be the future position of the faculty of judgment. Only later he inserted it between the two. But the main division between non-empirical (pure) and empirical investigation remains intact.
 
A PRIORI A POSTERIORI
Before Experience After Experience
Pure Not Pure
Non- empirical Empirical
Principles of Judging The inclusion of the "third critique" in the system necessitates a redefinition of the previously established terminology regarding the domain of "pure reason" (the published critique of pure reason was in fact the critique of pure understanding since "pure reason" in its theoretical use deals with the categories of understanding whereas practical reason explicates moral law). Now the critique of pure reason must encompass the newly opened discussion on Judgment as well, which adds to the obscurity of the conception and remains a great potential for confusion. But the general idea is clear - the discussion of the principles of judging a priori certainly does not belong to theoretical or practical reasoning although these may have application in both of these realms. ("The critique of the cognitive faculties as regards what they can furnish a priori, has, properly speaking, no realm in respect of objects...")
Critique of Cognitive Faculties The present Critique of Cognitive Faculties deals with the problem as to how a philosophical doctrine is possible by virtue of these faculties (they are conceived very broadly). Although carried out in the Critique of Judgment, this discussion, being of a purely theoretical nature, belongs to the Critique of Pure Reason in general. The realm of Pure Reason should be, however, distinguished from the realm of pure understanding that is concerned only for natural concepts in theoretical use.
Question: The starting question for the Critique of Judgment is this:
Does the faculty of Judgment have its own a priori principle?
Answer:

Kant's response is affirmative based on the analogy with the functioning of the understanding and reason: Since the Judgment mediates between the two, and since they have an a priori operating principle, it likewise must possess an a priori principle. As we are to see, Kant explicates its principle as the principle of reflection which assumes the form of purposiveness based on the existence of a sensus communis.
This answer is the upshot of Kant's prolonged and intricate discussion but it needs to be explicated and justified. This is possible only if we take into account all faculties of the soul (Gemuetsvermoegen) that are involved in our mental (and existential) activities.

Mental Faculties: The classification of these faculties provides another theoretical (non-analogical) reason for linking Judgment with the two realms of philosophy. Thus, along with the tripartite division of cognitive faculties, Kant introduces a tripartite division of the "representative faculties of the soul" (in keeping with our modern idiom we shall call them "mental"): knowledge, feeling, desire. This division roughly corresponds to the traditional division of human powers: rationality, sensitivity, instinctiveness. Kant's addition is that these powers are now regulated by the three cognitive faculties: while understanding "legislates" for knowledge, reason legislates for desires leaving thus the judgment to be in charge with feelings of pleasure and pain.
It is obvious that these two divisions of faculties (cognitive and representative) somehow correlate although their parallelism is not "even". It is tempting to juxtapose them in the following way:
 
  Cognition Sensitivity Volition
Cognitive Faculties Understanding Judgment Reason
Mental Capacities Knowledge Feeling Desire
  The relationship between these two classes of faculties is in fact much more complex than the above table suggests. Without delving into all intricacies of the whole issue let it suffice to say that the two groups of faculties reflect two different levels and perspectives of tackling the same problem. From a logical point of view, Kant speaks about cognitive instances ranging from understanding to reason; from a psychological point of view, he talks about mental faculties that correspond to the former. The two rows are intertwined so that judging is connected with feelings of pleasure and displeasure the way understanding is linked to knowledge or reason to desire.
Mapping the Mental: By slightly revising and expanding Kant's own table we can represent the respective origin and the area of application for all these faculties in the following way:
 
Mental Capacities Cognitive Faculties A priori Principles Application
Faculty of Knowledge Understanding Conceptual Unification Nature
Feeling of Pleasure and Pain Judgment Form of Purposiveness Organic Technology
Art
Faculty of Desire Reason Unconditional Law Morality
   
Connection One point is here decisive however: The faculty of feeling pleasure and pain is not only link to the faculty of Judgment - it could be also connected with the faculty of desire, and this in two ways, either (a) by preceding the a priori principle of judgment, or (b) by following it. The former combination is characteristic for our natural (animalistic) inclinations, the latter for our moral ability to follow the moral law and to feel good once we realize that we respect it (rationalist bent). Thus the faculty of judgment can mediate here as well. The feeling of delight that is at work in the faculty of Judgment, however, is of very different nature: it arises from the awareness of a harmonious interplay of cognitive faculties in us (see below).
Unification Now precisely the possibility of relating to pleasure and pain from the side of two representational faculties provides a unifying link between different cognitive faculties. Logically speaking, judgment connects natural concepts with the concepts of freedom by being applicable in both realms and by suggesting the possibility to find ends in nature. Psychologically, the feeling of pleasure and pain brings about a transition between knowledge and desire by preceding or following our judgments. The feeling of pleasure or pain accompanies the striving for knowledge or the lack of it. All the more it accompanies desires or suspension of them.
   
IV Judgment as a faculty legislating a priori.
   
  As indicated earlier, Judgment does not have its own realm of a priori legislation. However, it is not deprived of the ability to legislate a priori in other realms (nature and human world). In order to show how this legislative judging operates Kant first defines judgment in general.
Definition: "Judgment in general is the faculty of thinking the particular as contained under the universal."
  There are two kinds of judging: (a) determinant, and (a) reflective. The first belongs to the understanding, the second to the faculty of Judgment.
 
Determinant Reflective
Universal Given Universal missing
Determinant Judgment: In the case of determinant judging the universal is a priori given in any of its forms (the rule, the principle, the concept, the law) either by understanding or by reason. The determinant faculty of Judgment only subsumes the particular under it (that is, it recognizes the particular as an instance of the universal). In the realm of natural cognition it subsumes the particular under "universal transcendental laws".
Reflective Judgment: In the case of reflective judging only the particular is given but not the universal. The universal has to be found by imagination so that Judgment as it were has to invent it. This occurs already at the level of empirical, contingent concepts that are undetermined by a priori laws and becomes necessity when reflective judgment establishes the unity of all empirical principles.
Note: Because of its heuristic character Kant calls the reflective Judgment in other places ingenium - the ability to invent orderliness and purposiveness. Depending on the character of the assumed regularity and harmony the reflective Judgment could be aesthetical (taste and sublimity) or teleological (technology of nature).
Division Kant distinguishes the following kinds of reflective judgment:
systemic, teleological and aesthetical.
The latter two are subdivided into two kinds each.
 
Systemic
Teleological
Aesthetical
Organistic Holistic The Beautiful The Sublime

  Systemic reflective judgment researches the system of scientific concepts and laws, while teleological reflective judgment looks either for the purposive organization of particular organisms in nature (thus overcoming a mechanistic view) or for a determinate end within the whole of nature conceived as a single system. Finally, aesthetic reflective judgment judges either the beautiful or the sublime. The aesthetical and teleological reflective judgments are the main focus of Kant's third critique. This kind of judging is called reflective because it does not relate directly to the object but first and foremost to its own state of mind that is felt as a pleasure or displeasure.
   
Systematization Reflective judgment must seek the universal concepts to be applied to given particulars within a hierarchical system of concepts.
In the theoretical sphere the faculty of Judgment (determining) mediates between abstract rules and concrete instances by subsuming intuitions under concepts. Kant calls this subsumption under concepts (categories) schematizing. On the next level, we apply universal laws of nature, to be sure derived from the understanding, according to the universal concepts (without exceptions). The general principle of application is causation.
Thoroughgoing Interconnection The universal laws are at least implicitly about the possibility of nature in general as an object of experience. They require the intervention of reflective judgment to further supplement the principle of causation under the assumption of "the unity of the manifold". Examples of this expanded application are statements like "Nothing happens without reason", "Nature does not make leaps", "There are less genera in nature than species", etc. These maxims provide an initial guideline for our experience.
Variety However, the a priori rules of understanding do not suffice to account for objects in their particularity. They only define their possibility a priori but not their particular existence and the necessity of applying the particular law. The forms of nature and life are so manifold, with so many modifications and exceptions, that the a priori laws of understanding can cover them only generally, not specifically. The laws regulating these varying forms are particular empirical laws whose content must be considered in accordance with "a unity an understanding would furnish them as if these laws were valid". This is precisely the ground for a reflective judgment that coordinates empirical laws into higher unities thus making possible an organized system of concepts and the proper application to the particulars. The reflective judgment provides the unifying framework as an idea that needs to be exemplified.
Unity The laws of these empirical forms must be regarded as necessary in virtue of the "unity of the manifold" for which we must assume an intelligence working as a designer. For the insight that there is a unity of the manifold we must apply Judgment. By the same token, the unity of all empirical principles under the higher ones is provided by reflective Judgment. The assumption of a unified system of experience is just a regulative idea. It formulates this unity as if it exists - it does not ascribe it to Nature itself. Reflective judgment supplies a hierarchically ordered system of species and genera both in order to provide an overall unity and to supply empirical concepts for given particulars.
Subjectivity It must have a principle that makes possible its ascent from the particular to the universal in nature thus creating a system of connected hierarchical levels. The principle of Judgment cannot be derived from understanding or from reason. It must come from the faculty of Judgment itself. But it must hold for it albeit not as an attribute of nature itself. It is not the order of nature as autonomy but the way how the reflective faculty works as heautonomy (our own way of looking at nature). We must look at nature as if it is a unified and purposive whole. Thus, as Kant puts it, the faculty of Judgment acts "from itself for itself". It is the subjectivity of the principle that makes its use an art rather than science. We cannot say whether there is an objective design in the world but we cannot but assume it.
   
Purposiveness: What is the principle of reflective judgment in general? Kant finds it in purposiveness. Purposiveness is the conformity of an object with the overall constitution of the whole whatever it may be insofar as it is possible according to purposes. Nature is viewed accordingly as a purposive unity of functional organisms without a designer. By the same token, when Kant calls beautiful objects purposive he does not mean that they are suited for some utilitarian purposes but that their form (organization, representation, execution) is "purposive", that is just "right" for what they are. Purposiveness means in fact rightness - the feeling conveyed to mental faculties that the beautiful object in question is just right in its form.
Faculty
Understanding
Judgment
Reason
A Priori Principle
Adequacy to Law
Purposiveness
Realization of Final Ends
Principle The principle of reflective judgment in respect to the forms of nature is the purposiveness of nature in its variety. This principle is valid for the teleological reflective Judgment. We shall see that the specific principle of the reflective Judgment of taste is the form of purposiveness without purpose.
As If The purposiveness of nature is an a priori concept drawn from the reflective Judgment. In themselves natural objects do not have purposes. We must not ascribe them to Nature, we can only use the concept of purposiveness to reflect upon the products of nature or art.
Kant defines purpose as a concept that combines both form and finality. This results in a synthesis of the Aristotelian formal and final causes that are now merged into one concept needed to judge nature as a unity and artworks as beautiful products.
Note: Kant does not assume the actual existence of an intelligent designer, only the necessity for us to look at nature as if it possesses the unity of different forms. The purposiveness of nature is just a subjective concept that we use to reflect upon empirically observable connections and functional arrangements of natural organisms.
Practical Reflection In the sphere of practical reason we also deal with the determination of particulars by universals. What is being subsumed in practical judging are not concrete actions but the mere form of the will under the concept of Reason. This is what Kant calls the self-determination of the will. It is a subsumption of the particular maxim of an action under the moral law conceived as unconditionally and absolutely binding. Universal laws of conduct are derived from reason and they are binding for all rational beings. Examples are propositions like these: "Always act as if the maxim of your actions can become a universal law", "Never treat another person as a means", "Worthiness is the final end, not happiness", etc.
Analogy Kant warns that the teleological purposiveness is different from the practical purposiveness in human morals or arts but he concedes that there is an analogy between the former and the latter to the effect that nature follows (imitates) art (this is a reversal of the old Aristotelian dictum). It remains that the purposiveness of nature (both on the level of organisms and the whole of nature) could be known only in analogy with the practical purposiveness of artistic production. Purposiveness thus proves to be the clue for the unity of the two parts of philosophy: purposiveness is in fact the causality by means of the Idea.
 

Lexicon
Higher Cognitive Faculties
Understanding = the faculty of cognition under universal rules;
Reason = the faculty of determining the particular by the universal;
Judgment = the faculty of thinking the particular as subsumed under the universal.

Determinant Judgment Reflective Judgment
The Universal given a priori - the particular needs to be subsumed Only the particular given - the universal needs to be invented

__________________________________________________________

Purpose = the concept of an object so far as it contains the ground for the existence of the object.
Purposiveness = the agreement of an object with the arrangement that is possible only according to purposes.
Analogy = proportion; for Kant analogy is also an operation by means of which we transfer one relation to another realm.

First Book
Analytic of The Beautiful

In order to find out what are the conditions of experiencing beauty, that is to say, what requirements must be met in order to be able to call an object beautiful, Kant does not analyze the characteristics of that object but focuses instead on the judgments of taste that articulate the experience of the beautiful. The critical discernment dissects the a priori conditions of taste based predominantly on a feeling - in this case the feeling of pleasure or displeasure. Seemingly Kant stays within the Humean reduction of taste to sentiments but he adds at least two non-Humean components: the operation of referring performed by imagination and the conjunction with the understanding. The thought reflects the role of pleasure or displeasure in which it feels itself entangled. This exemplifies the aesthetical mode of dealing with objects as opposed to the methodical procedures of cognitive apprehension that follow certain definite rules. The Critique of Judgment reveals the true nature of taste by demonstrating the reflexive character of aesthetical judging.
Kant organizes his analyses of the beautiful in accordance with the four logical attributes from his theoretical philosophy, that is to say with regard to their: quality, quantity, relation and modality (cf. his table of judgments and categories in the Prolegomena, paragraph 21). His justification is that judgments of taste always contain a reference to understanding. Despite the priority of quality in the analysis the chosen framework is pretty artful as judgments of taste do not fall exactly under concepts and rules like logical and practical judgments. Nonetheless, Kant analyzes judgments of taste from those four points of view as forms of subjective synthesis that fall short of exemplifying pure logical types but still could be meaningfully considered as judgments and consequently as displaying characteristics comparable to what classical logic considers as the four main attributes of propositions.

 

First Moment
Judgment of Taste according to Quality

Classical logic teaches that propositions (judgments), according to their quality, could be affirmative, negative or infinite. The first kind of judgments attributes the predicate to the subject, the second denies it of the subject and the third limits its attribution. Kant wants to prove that judgments of taste are indefinite because they are a product of imagination and understanding that stand in an indefinite relation to each other when we make reference to our state of mind.
 

1

 The Judgment of Taste is Aesthetical.
Reference to Feeling Aesthetical reflective faculty relates the object that is being thought by it to the sensation procured by the representation. The outcome is the judgment of taste which refers the representation of the object to the subject and his sensation of pleasure. The pleasure in question accompanies our apprehension of the object by means of the Imagination in relation to the Understanding. For Kant, this means that the conjunction of imagination and the understanding that is at work in the experience of the beautiful refers primarily to the subject and its feeling of delight (or displeasure), not to the object and is not performed by means only of understanding. Imagination presents intuition to understanding but understanding does not convert them into predications by means of categories. A non-cognitive feeling diverts the search for categories by inserting itself directly into a judgment of taste.
  Note: J.F. Lyotard calls this reference to own feeling the "tautegorical character" of the judgment of taste: pleasure and displeasure are at once a "state" of the soul and the "information" gathered by the soul relative to its overall condition. The act of thought is informed about its state by the state itself.
Subjective In view of this reference to feelings the judgment of taste (or of the beautiful - for Kant, these are synonymous expressions) is not a judgment of cognition (an objective, logical judgment). It is subjective in the sense that it refers to something that is in the subject, something that only a subject can experience (my feelings are only my feelings), although not something absolutely private and arbitrary. An aesthetic representation may be empirical, but the judgment based on it does not become subjective just because it is empirical. It is rather the other way round. It is empirical because it is aesthetical and subjective. The representation could be a rational representation and the judgment may still be an aesthetical one if it arises from a subjective feeling.
Empirical - Objective Representation On the other hand, a representation (or sensation) may refer to something empirical (and thus aesthetical) and still be objective by its reference. For instance, I can apprehend a "purposive building" and discern its type, height and function by using my cognitive faculties of intuition and understanding. My judgments about these aspects of the object will be empirical and logical at once - and so long as they refer to the object - objectively. Thus we can say that aesthetical representations could be either empirical or rational provided that they refer to subjective feelings.
 
Representation Empirical Rational
Logical
 Referring to Object Referring to Object
Aesthetical
 Referring to Subject Referring to Subject
Empirical Aesthetical Representation The judgment of taste does not signify anything in the object but an internal feeling that is caused by the representation of the object. If I say that the building in question is "impressive", "magnificent" or "beautiful", I will be pronouncing a judgment about my representation of it as it relates to my respective feelings. Thus we may conclude that what makes a judgment aesthetical is this reference to subjectivity rather than its empirical content. In contrast to logical judgments aesthetical judgments are subjective and reflective.

Judgment
Aesthetical Logical
Subjective Objective
Reflective Cognitive

Note: Kant is with Hume in grounding taste on feelings, not on reason. He even admits that his faculty of distinction or of Judgment does not operate as a cognitive faculty. Not even as a recapitulation of what pleases across generations and cultures. But Kant conceives aesthetic judgments differently. The judgments about the beautiful are not empirical in the sense that they pronounce something beautiful based on observation or previous consensus. Kant departs from Hume also in relating them with non-empirical faculties and in separating them from bodily taste altogether. The judgment of taste is subjective in the sense of making reference to the subject's feelings, not in the sense of being personal and arbitrary. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it is not relative. It is related to feelings but it is not the same as bodily sensations. As we will see, in a sense it must be a priori as it raises the claim for universal validity (cf. second moment).
Conscious Balance The pleasure of taste is referred to the agreement (harmony) of the faculties of imagination (representations) and understanding (concepts). We become conscious of the balance between order and fantasy by virtue of a sensation and we articulate that balance as the beautiful. Thus a psychological state of mind turns into a cognitive harmony albeit not logically .
  Note: If aesthetical judgment operates without any concept the question is, of course, what concept it seeks reflectively and how it is related to the experience of beauty or sublimity.
Rational Aesthetical The judgment of taste arises from the comparison of a given representation in the subject with the whole faculty of representations of which the mind is conscious in the feeling of its state. The consciousness of this representation is rational but in its core it remains aesthetical. Imagination retains its power despite the connection with other faculties of representation and despite the fact that some indeterminate concepts are involved. The interplay of imagination and the understanding is what one feels as harmonious or disharmonious and consequently as aesthetical.
 
Lexicon
Sensation = a perception with consciousness - it occurs with every occurrence of conscious thought.
Representation = any act of thought or kind of knowledge we are aware of.
Imagination = the active faculty of representation; Kant often conflates it with the faculty of intuition which is more receptive; strictly speaking it is the faculty of synthetizing intuitions and could be called simply intuition only in a very loose sense.
   
2 The Satisfaction which determines the judgment of Taste is disinterested.
  Since the judgment of taste was defined as non-cognitive and subjective one would expect Kant to regard it as relative, irrational and personal. But Kant denies precisely these conclusions by showing that it is impartial, intellectually stimulating and universal.
Interest - Definition It could be such only if it does not include any personal interest. Therefore the aesthetical delight must be devoid of all interest. The feeling of satisfaction typically indicates an interest in the object or a desire involved in the process. Kant defines interest as the satisfaction which is combined with the representation of the existence of the object. That is to say, interest manifests itself as a desire to possess or to consume something.
Lack of Interest However, in passing a judgment of taste we disregard whether the object exists for us or for anyone else - we judge it contemplatively no matter whether we have any relation toward it. In other words, whether something is beautiful or not does not depend on any concern for its existence, use, cost, effects.
  To illustrate the completely disinterested character of aesthetical judgment of taste Kant analyzes an array of possible but aesthetically irrelevant attitudes toward a sumptuous and beautiful palace.
Irrelevant Answers (1) I do not like things that are made merely to be watched.
  (2) I prefer cook shops over palaces (Iroquois Sachem).
  (3) I rebuke the vanity of those who waste public energy on such a thing (Rousseau).
  (4) I would not bother to conjure up such a building even if I could have it by mere wish.
Ignoratio Elenchi These reactions are all possible and legitimate but all miss the point which is simply this: whether the representation of this palace in me is accompanied by a satisfaction independent of my personal attitude, interest or preference for its existence or non-existence. The question is just whether it pleases in a pure representation (intuition or reflection), not what is my attitude toward it. I can say anything from 1 to 4 and still recognize that the palace is beautiful. (Note that none of these statements expresses a desire to possess the palace; on the contrary, precisely because they all deny any personal interest in possessing the palace their aesthetic judgment will be untainted.)
Impartiality The judgment of taste is deprived of any interest in possession or use of the beautiful object. Only so it can be impartial and a true judgment about the beautiful.
Note: Thus if you vote on 'American Idol' for a candidate because s/he is from your state, because you know she/him or want to be with her/him then your judgment is not one of taste but something else, a statement of interest or desire. However, the absence of interest is not a sufficient condition for the feeling of pleasure. I cannot say that I regard a woman beautiful because I do not have desire to be with her. The absence of interest is only a necessary condition for the judgment of taste, not the sufficient.
Indifference To secure the disinterested character of the judgment of taste Kant requires that the judging subject remains indifferent with regard to the existence of the beautiful object. Disinterestedness is not identical with objectivity - it is more like impartiality and personal indifference.
Note: This indifference should not be confused with a lack of attention or boredom. The disinterestedness pertains only to the satisfaction as our reaction to the representation of the object - this satisfaction is totally divorced from any desire - but it does not exclude an intrigued attention (curiosity).
Impurity If the aesthetical judgment of taste mingles with any interest it ceases to be a judgment of taste and becomes a statement of inclination or desire (aesthetical judgment of the pleasant).
   
   
3 The Satisfaction in the Pleasant is bound up with Interest.
   
  In this section Kant explains the nature of the reference to the feeling of satisfaction as it could be easily confused with some other kinds of pleasantness. In order to put in sharp relief the point of disinterestedness (as opposed to interest) Kant contrasts the judgments of taste with those pertaining to the pleasant.
The Pleasant - Definition Pleasant is what pleases the senses in sensation.
Argument - Everything that pleases is pleasant (= pleasant sensation be it agreeable, lovely, delightful, enjoyable or something similar).
- All satisfaction is itself sensation (of a pleasure).
- Therefore all satisfaction is same in kind.
Ambiguity The word sensation has two meanings: the sensual and the reflective.
Leveling By disregarding this ambiguity one could argue that since all satisfaction is a sensation (of pleasure to be sure) then different pleasant sensations (the pleasant that determines inclination, the satisfaction caused by the respect for moral law, pure contemplative satisfaction determining the judgment) would be regarded as identical in kind simply because they are all sensations ("pleasantness in the sensation of one's state"). However, that would be a crude generalization that lump us physiological, moral and cognitive satisfaction.
  In what follows Kant shows that there are sensations which please and yet are not what he calls the pleasant, and the other way round, that what pleases in the sense of being delightful is not necessarily bound with any personal interest or satisfaction in terms of inclination or representation.
Consequences If things are different only with regard to the quantity of pleasure they promise or procure then the sole basis for an evaluation of them would be the amount of gratification they promise or provide. In that case people should seek out only pleasure and in their pursuits they should apply little scruples as to the means leading to gratification. For the guiding principle would be then only effectiveness, not the rightness of conduct and people would be more or less smart or stupid not more or less moral or bad. By the same token, if all pleasures were the same there would be no room to distinguish between fine and bad taste. Fortunately, it is not so.
Distinction In order to avoid the confusion between different kinds of satisfaction Kant suggests first to distinguish between the sensation in the sense of feeling pleasure and the sensation in the sense of having a sensory representation. The former is non-cognitive and subjective (refers to the subject's state) while the latter is cognitive and objective (refers to the object). Kant calls the former a "feeling" while the latter should be called "an objective representation of sense". Second, he demonstrates that not all pleasant feeling are about the pleasant of senses - they could be about the good or the beautiful.
  Note: The word "sensation" is an equivalent for the Greek aisthesis. Originally it was used to denote only the experiences of the external world but under influence of Alexander Baumgarten it gradually included internal experiences as well. Kant didn't like this propagation of the word but could not go against the stream that adopts this wide usage (witness the Critique of Judgment itself). To save what could be saved from his own terminological system while accommodating the new vocabulary he tried to reserve the word "sensation" for the representation that informs the mind about something given to it as an object (objective sensation) while treating the sensation that informs the mind about its own state as a "feeling" (subjective sensation).
Example "The green color of the meadows belongs to objective sensation, as a perception of an object of sense, the pleasantness of this belongs to subjective sensation by which no object is represented, i.e. feeling, by which the object is considered as an object of satisfaction (which does not furnish cognition of it)."
 
Objective Sensation Subjective Sensation
Representation of Object in Relation to Sense Determination of Subjective Feeling
Green Color The Pleasantness
Perception Satisfaction
Sensation:
If we apply the above distinctions on different judgments and their respective faculties they give us the following semantic branching of connotation for the terms "sensation" and judgments:
 
Sensation (Aisthesis)/Judgment (Urteil)
/ \
Objective Sensation / Judgment Subjective Sensation / Judgment

Logical Judgment
Objects
Understanding
Cognitive
Conceptual		 Practical Judgment
Good
Reason - Will
Interest
Conceptual
 
Physiological Sensation
Pleasant
Senses
Non-Conceptual
Desire
Gratification		 Aesthetical Judgment
Reflective
Beautiful
Sensation + Judgment, Understanding + Imagination
Quasi-conceptual
Indifference
Assent

Difference Aesthetical sensations are immediate judgments of thought upon itself. They are a synthesis of the act of thought with the affection it procures.
Now the question arises what is the difference between the last two branches of the tree (the two subjective aesthetical kinds of sensation).
Pleasant According to Kant, the aesthetical sensation of senses is about the pleasant. It excites a desire for the object and implies interest in the subject. Consequently, its satisfaction stems not from the pure judgment but from the attitude toward the object. The attitude manifests itself as inclination. It is based on the desired/expected gratification, not on pure approval/assent (a reflection of the act).
A word od Practical Wisdom: The pleasant very often neutralizes (suspends) any judgment about the character of the object for the sake of mere enjoyment.
   
4 The Satisfaction in the Good is bound with Interest
   
Good - Definition The good is that what pleases by means of reason through concepts.
Two Kinds There are two kinds of good:
(1) The useful which pleases as a means for something else (instrumental good);
(2) The good in itself which pleases as such for itself (intrinsic good).
Interest In both kinds of good there is a satisfaction in the presence of an object or an action with regard to a certain purpose.
Purpose Something good could be identified only by means of a concept that states what that object ought to be.
Pleasant The pleasant rests entirely upon sensation, and yet, although not relying upon concepts in pursuing the inclination, may represent the object through a concept of purpose that meets human needs. Both in terms of addressing the senses and desires it entails an interest. This creates the impression that it is something good or similar to the good. We say "it feels good" when in fact we mean it is pleasant.
Beautiful In this regard the beautiful differs from both the pleasant which is useful and the good. It does not require a concept to be felt. The beautiful arises from a reflection upon an object, but leads to no definite concept (or, as Kant puts it, leading to any concept - which makes the judgment indefinite) and does not entail any interest in it.
"Flowers, free delineations, outlines intertwined with one another without design and called /conventional/ foliage, have no meaning, depend on no definite concept, and yet they please."
Note: Kant distinguishes between "free beauty", for which the above examples are illustrative, and the "dependent beauty" (or adherent beauty) which presupposes a concept of what the object ought to be so that it could be judged regarding its perfection or imperfection accordingly. The former beauty requires an undifferentiated and almost empty judgment, while the latter could contain both an informed component referred to a concept and a purely aesthetical delight. When judging about fine art Kant certainly does not confine judgment to a sheer expression of satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Simplified Structure
Represented Object => =>Subjective Satisfaction => => Judgment of Taste
   
Table We can represent the differences between the three relations to the feeling of pleasure by means of the following table:
 
  Pleasant Good Beautiful
Organ Senses Reason Judgment
Attitude Interest Interest Indifference
Expectation Gratification Realization Reflection
Intelligibility No Concept Definite Concept Indefinite Concept
  Interest of the sense = seeks satisfaction of a need.
Interest of reason = seeks realization of the good, the attainment of an end.
Will = desire determined by reason.
There is no interest in the beautiful because there is no need for it nor a purpose that would define its usefulness or value.
   
Distinguishing Good from Pleasant In the following two passages of this paragraph Kant primarily details the differences between the pleasant and the good. This discussion is not functional for an explanation of the judgment of taste with regard to its quality - its purport is rather ethical. Therefore our summary will be more telegraphic than analytic. For a comprehensive comparison between the delight in the beautiful, the good and the pleasant see the table of Kant's relevant statements at www.roman-eisele.de/phil/
Identification People tend to identify the pleasant with the good. For instance, they say for a dish "It is so good" ("Mr. Food" on Cox channel ), although the meaning is just "it is tasty". Or they regard a prolonged gratification (in Kant's eyes it equals enjoyment) as good in itself. Hence they think that pleasure is identical with the good particularly if it lasts and make us "feel good".
Distinction

Kant rejects this reasoning. For him, it is a kind of categorical mistake to identify that which gratifies with the good. Here are his reasons:

(1) The good must be subsumed under principles of reason by means of the concept of purpose. The pleasant, on the other hand, represents simply an object in relation to sense and does not require the intervention of any concept of purpose.

(2) The pleasant signifies something that pleases immediately without any purpose. In contrast, the good could be immediately good (in itself) but also mediately good (useful). The beautiful is like the pleasant - it must be immediately judged as beautiful or it is not beautiful at all.

(3) Something can be immediately pleasant in terms of sensory delight, but mediately not good in terms of its effects. For instance, fast food may taste deliciously (as is often the case) but objectively (in terms of nutritional facts) it is not good for our health.

(4) Even with regard to health which is widely regarded as both pleasant and good we can establish a difference. It is immediately pleasant at least as the absence of pain but it is good only with reference to a purpose that we discover by means of reason, for instance, as the precondition for any endeavor (good or bad).

(5) People view happiness as the highest goal while understanding it as the "greatest sum of pleasantness of life". If happiness is the ultimate good and if it consists in pleasures then there is a clear identity between the good and the pleasant. But Kant opposes this identification on moral grounds. If happiness were the unconditional good and if it consisted in pleasures we should not be very scrupulous in choosing all available means for gratification. But reason shows that worthiness (moral autonomy) is the only unconditional good no matter whether enjoyment is present or not. Happy people could be bad and good people could be unhappy - therefore the good and happiness do not coincide.

Agreement The pleasant and the good are together in being tied to an interest in their object. This is true not only for the pleasant and the mediate good but also for the good without qualification (absolute good). It is the object of will and its highest interest. But to be the object of a will and to take interest in its existence via a satisfaction is the same thing.
   
5 Comparison of the Three Kinds of Satisfaction
   
Desire The most important commonality among the pleasant and the good is their link to the faculty of desire. The former arouses a direct desire by pathologically affecting the senses the latter practically by means of a will which is nothing else but the faculty of desire determined by reason. The satisfaction of the pleasant is conditioned upon the existence of external stimuli that we relate to our state and find gratifying. The satisfaction in the good also hinges upon the linkage of the subject with the existence of the object, only that it requires a mediation through a concept and the determination of the will.

Contemplation The beautiful does not require the connection between the existence of the object and the will/desire of the subject. On the contrary, the judgment of taste (which evaluates the beautiful) is contemplative (i.e. indifferent to the relation with the object). It only compares the representation of the object with the feeling of pleasure without ever relating it to a definite concept. It is neither cognitive, nor practical nor purely sensual.
Relations Different relations of representations to the feeling of pleasure and pain are expressed with different verbs, nouns and modes.
The pleasant gratifies, the beautiful delights, the good is being approved.
The complacency in the first case stems from a natural inclination, it manifests itself as favor in the second and it induces respect in the third.
   
 
Experience Pleasant Beautiful Good
Satisfaction Pathological Contemplative Practical
Physical Source Appetite
Desire 		Sensation
Imagination 		Volition
Desire
Cognitive Action Sensation Reflection Subsumption
Expectation Gratification Nothing Realization
Mental State Pleasure
Vergnuegen		 Delight Gefallen Approval
Schaetzung
Psychological State Inclination Favor/Assent Respect
   
Animality - Rationality

Kant specifies all three relations as to the dual character of human nature: either animal or rational or both at one. We share the feeling of pleasantness with animals, while the good pertains only to rational beings including superhumans ("concerns every rational being in general"). The beautiful is somehow placed in between. It concerns only men but in their duality, not merely as rational beings nor as animals but as rational animals.

The Pleasant The Good The Beautiful
Pure Animality Pure Rationality Combination Humanity
Determined Physiologically Determined by Reason Free

Note: Kant promises to expand on this interesting topic "in the sequel" but he never returns back to this contention that suggests a more comprehensive character of aesthetic experience. Aristotle was Kant's predecessor in regarding pleasures as humanly non-specific (animal) trait and treating reason as a uniquely human (rational) characteristic.

Determination Satisfaction in the pleasant and the good is determined by the interest of senses and reason respectively. We do not have freedom in establishing what is pleasant nor what is good - that is dictated either by inclination or by reason through the will. They both create a want that does not allow the judgment any leeway. This is the reason why it is possible to satisfy hunger without taste and act in accord with duty without possessing virtue and the good will. Only when one judges free from hunger or moral constraint can we asses their culinary or moral taste.
 
Condition Nutritional Moral
Want exists - Hunger or Command
Everything is Tasty Behaving - Manners, Politeness, Decorum
Normal Condition Pursuing Inclination Obeying Law (Moral Attitude)
Want Appeased Showing Culinary Taste - Selective Choice Displaying Moral Taste and Judgment
Want

The consequence of the above reasoning is that taste cannot be displayed if basic needs are not satisfied. Only when the want is appeased it is possible to evaluate the taste of the senses. Otherwise the existing inclination decides the matter in keeping with the saying: "Hunger is the best sauce." (The problem is that only a few will try their taste when they are all set - people then typically do not feel any need to test their taste.)

By the same token, when moral law speaks there is no room for free choice in determining the course of action. Moral taste is simply subdued by moral attitude which forces the right conduct no matter whether virtue, good will or good character are present or not. The only situation when moral taste comes to play is discussing possible actions or evaluating the conduct of other people. Judging somebody's gestures or displaying taste in acting is a kind of play with the objects of satisfaction when compared with the fulfillment of duty on account of the respect for moral law.
However only moral taste can show whether a person possesses the internal qualities of a good character precisely because it touches only upon the objects of satisfaction without any attachment to them.

Reversal The fact that you are having satisfaction does not mean that you have taste; the fact that you are behaving does not mean that you are moral. Some other conditions must be met - indifference toward the possession of the object and the acceptance of the good will. But hunger blurs the culinary taste as the moral law suppresses the moral taste. Hence the only way to check somebody's moral taste is to test that person's thoughts in hypothetical situations (casuistry).
Freedom Kant makes this digression about culinary and moral taste in order to be able to intimate that in matters of aesthetic taste such a difference between want and its appeasement does not exist. There is no need or command that the satisfaction in the beautiful satisfies. The satisfaction of taste in the beautiful is the only free of the three because it is entirely disinterested. And it is always free or it does not exist. Consequently the judgment of taste that articulates that delight must be indifferent to any want or satisfaction.
 
No Choice Free Choice
X Aesthetic Taste
Satisfaction of Hunger Culinary Taste
Satisfaction of Moral Law Moral Taste
   
Explanation "Taste is the faculty of judging of an object or a method of representing it by an entirely disinterested satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The object of such satisfaction is called beautiful."

 

Second Moment
Judgment of Taste according to Quantity

According to quantity judgments could be universal, particular or singular. In this section Kant shows that the judgment of taste, while singular in its quantity, represents the beautiful as the object of universal satisfaction. This satisfaction is subjective but claims universal validity and does not arise from a concept.
 

6 The Beautiful is represented as the Object of a Universal Satisfaction
   
Implication Kant takes the awareness of disinterestedness as an indicator that the satisfaction in the beautiful is universal (not just subjective). Since the delight in the beautiful is not caused by any inclination or private interest, but translates into a free judgment that attaches the satisfaction to the beautiful object, the judging subject is not only entitled to conclude that a particular object is beautiful but in fact must draw the conclusion that others will have the same ground for satisfaction in the object. As this ground is not to be found in his own private condition the subject must presuppose that it must rest on something that resides in every other person. This presupposition does not arise from the concept either of the subject or the object.
Note: The reasoning that goes from what we cannot find to the positive claim that something is so and so is not logically correct, but this is the only way to overcome the subjectivity of taste.
 
No Inclination
No Interest
No Pressure
Free Satisfaction
Reflecting If there is no concept available how can the judgment of taste be reflective in the first place? Precisely because of this absence. Kant asserts that the judgment of taste is reflective owing to the absence of any concept that could be brought about as its superaltern rule. In judging the beautiful we perform a subsumption - only it is not the one under an empirical concept but the one that places the object under the idea of universal subjective validity. Given the feeling of delight we need to decide by reflection whether we can claim for it universal validity. And if we judge the object as beautiful we must claim its validity for all men without being derived from a concept.
Pseudo-Objectivity This reasoning explains the mode of our judgments about the beautiful. They are phrased as if beauty were a characteristic of the evaluated object and the judgment of beauty a logical cognitive judgment based on a concept. However, the only similarity with logical judgments is the supposition of validity for all men, not the objective nature of the predicate. But the universality in question does not spring from a concept nor does it depend on the object. It is subjective and yet it raises a claim for universal validity. This claim is not necessarily fulfilled although it must be raised if the judgment of taste is to be something more than a judgment of sense.
   
7 Comparing the Beautiful with other Relations of Feeling
   
Private Feeling The statement "This is pleasant" means "This is pleasant to me". The judgment about the pleasant (either based on the taste of the tongue, throat, ear or eye) is private and claims only personal validity. The ambition to prove somebody wrong or right in the realm of the pleasant is totally misplaced. As regards the pleasant the operative maxim is: everyone has their own taste. Thus the proverb 'each to his own' (chacun a son gout) holds primarily for the feeling of the pleasant (taste of sense).
"Permissible" Variations "To one, violet color is soft and lovely; to another, it is washed out and dead. One man likes the tone of wind instruments, another that of strings."
These are permissible variations of taste in Hume's analysis. Kant intimates that they encompass the whole domain of the taste of sense.
Judging For Everyone In contrast, the statement "This is beautiful to me" would sound strange, as Kant notes, precisely because of its concluding qualification. "To me" would be either redundant or misplaced (in the former case the true meaning would be "This is pleasant to me", in the latter it would unjustifiably degrade the judgment of the beautiful to a private statement). We must not forget that the judgment of the beautiful is a judgment that we make representatively for everyone while the judgment of the pleasant remains our private judgment that should not concern anyone else.
Precondition Therefore when judging the beautiful "we cannot say that each man has his own taste." The old saying about the relativity of taste contradicts the very idea of taste and must be related only to the pleasant. If this requirement is not met taste is a chimerical idea.
Presupposing
Sameness		 By pronouncing the judgment "This is beautiful" the judging subject expects the agreement of others not because it was given in the past (like Hume's consensus of the ages) but because the logic of the judgment of taste is such that it includes that claim. Whoever feels satisfaction of the beautiful must presuppose the same satisfaction in others. This why we ask rhetorically: "Isn't this pretty?"
Demarcation If something only pleases it should not be called beautiful and the other way round, if something is beautiful it should not be qualified as personal liking.
Note: Kant obviously pleads for a more rigorous and discriminate usage of both terms - and he is right at least in the sense that the pleasant and the beautiful are not absolute synonyms. Why do we need the word 'beautiful' if it does not have a specific meaning that says something else than the pleasant?
Summary  
 
Judgments Pleasant Beautiful Good
Stating Personal Liking Universal Delight Moral Obligation
Position Relativism Virtualism Rigorism
Consequence No Dispute Validity Claim Binding Pressure
   
Concession Relativism applies to the sensation of the pleasant. However, Kant concedes that there is a considerable amount of agreement among people in judging the pleasant in real life which goes counter the popular relativist sayings. (He does not speak about the agreement in the way how our 'organic senses' react to external stimuli - the majority of people will probably agree that something is sweet or bitter under normal conditions and we typically do not ascribe or deny taste to the sheer use of senses. He has in mind "the faculty of judging the pleasant in general" that is not equally distributed among men.) This remark comes as a big surprise given the strictly private character of the pleasant. Especially if this empirical agreement serves as the basis (as it does) for ascribing or denying some people taste in matters of sensual satisfaction.
Empirical Taste

The explanation for this is that in the latter case we in fact mean the empirically acquired knowledge (comparisons, generalizations) about the pleasant, not about the sensing itself. In addition, acting upon a factual agreement about the pleasant does not amount to aesthetical reflective taste. It only bears witness to the familiarity with that what people want, that is with that what pleases them within a definite cultural, social and historical setting (this could be ascertained empirically). If somebody knows (based on social experience and good psychological skills) that certain food, ambiance and entertainment will please his guests and then acts accordingly he certainly displays a lot of social taste but he does not judge aesthetically. He has formulated certain rules in reference to sociability but he operates experientially, aiming at a contingent generality, and does not lay claim to the universal validity implied by true judgment of taste. It is quite conceivable that some other people (possibly from another culture) could be displeased with his effort to provide entertainment.

 
 
Sensory Judgments Logical Judgment Reflective Judgment Practical Judgments
Interest No Interest No Interest Interest
No Concept Concepts No Concept Concepts
Private Objective Subjective Obligatory
Personal Validity Actual Validity Public Validity Universal Validity
  The following table summarizes differences between the two aesthetical judgments - of the socially contingent pleasant and of the beautiful:
 
Aesthetic Judgments

Judging the Pleasant Judging the Beautiful
Taste of Sense Taste of Reflection
Comparative
Empirical Agreement 		Implied
Validity for Everyone
Contingent General Rules Subjective Universal Rules
All Taste Equal Taste not Equal
Social, Psychological Aesthetical, Reflective