Aesthetic Disinterestedness

Thomas Hilgers is a research associate in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Potsdam, Germany. After completing his dissertation in philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania in 2010, he was a research fellow at the Free University Berlin, the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, and Columbia University. He has also taught seminars in philosophy and film studies at UPenn, the Free University Berlin, the Kunstakademie, the Humboldt University Berlin, and Potsdam University. His fields of research are aesthetics, philosophy of film, philosophy of technology, metaphysics, and the history of German philosophy since Kant.

• Introduction1. Introducing Disinterestedness2. Defending Disinterestedness3. Explicating Disinterestedness4. Generating DisinterestednessConclusion

"Thomas Hilgers's book is a distinctive and powerful contribution to an aesthetic theory of art ... Hilgers has worked out many of the details of a generally Kantian aesthetic theory of art and its value as fully as anyone, and his study significantly advances the discussion both of what art is and how and why it matters to us." – Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews"Hilgers’s book is fascinating and carefully argued . . . Hilgers is widely conversant in Hermeneutics, Anglophone Philosophy, Contemporary Social theory, and the Arts. His voice is erudite and his reasoning intricate." – Carol S. Gould in The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism"Hilgers’s subtle book offers theorists interested in aesthetic experience and art an opportunity to reconsider disinterest, with its potential value, and perhaps limits, anew." – Samantha Matherne in Philosophy in Review"This challenging volume bravely addresses some relevant yet still contentious questions of aesthetics . . . [It] is sound, serious, and thoroughly grounded: well-made arguments support the author’s claims and the ideas or theories of other authors are accurately presented when defending or grounding his own approach or when assessing them critically; possible objections are constantly considered and addressed." – Dan Eugen Ratiu in Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics"Hilgers’ book is a major new contribution to a topic that is often too quickly dismissed in current debates about the nature of aesthetic experience, namely the historical and contemporary importance of the concept of disinterestedness." – Jane Kneller, Colorado State University, USA