Battle, Matthew (2016) Whitehead's sublime : the function of the aesthetic in Alfred North Whitehead's philosophy of science. (MPhil thesis), Kingston University, .

Abstract

The following thesis is a study of the concept of the 'sublime' in Immanuel Kant's ' Critique of Judgement ' and the concept of the 'event' in the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. By undertaking an in-depth, close and overall original reading of these two particular areas of these two philosophers' work, this thesis puts forward a new understanding of the Kantian sublime, and with it a deeper understanding of Whitehead's concept of the event. This reinterpretation of the sublime, which then informs our interpretation of Whitehead's thought, allows us to create a cogent criticism of contemporary philosopher, Steven Shaviro's book ' Without criteria : Kat, Whitehead, Deleuze and Aesthetics '. This criticism not only highlight the differences between our own interpretations of the sublime and Whitehead and those of a contemporary interpretation, but also enables us to present our main argument explicitly. This central argument is that the sublime should not be understood as an aesthetic concept but rather one that has an ontological potential; that is to say, a concept that has the ability to affect, and therefore have a role in, the construction of a subject. However, such a theory can only be understood from a very particular understanding of experience and the construction of a subject, in short a view we discover in the work of Whitehead. As such we argue that the sublime must be properly understood in conjunction with Whitehead's concept of the event, just as the Whiteheadean event should be rightly understood in relation with the sublime.

Actions (Repository Editors)

Item Control Page