Lessing and the Reformation of Aesthetic Rationalism

This chapter focuses on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who is considered as the last great thinker in the rationalist tradition of aesthetics. Lessing occupies a unique place in the rationalist tradition. He was its single thinker to be not only a great aesthetician but also a great writer. No one else i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDiotima's Children
Main Author Beiser, Frederick C
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Oxford University Press 29.10.2009
Subjects
aesthetic rationalism
sentimentalism
Laokoon
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
ethics
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Summary:This chapter focuses on Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, who is considered as the last great thinker in the rationalist tradition of aesthetics. Lessing occupies a unique place in the rationalist tradition. He was its single thinker to be not only a great aesthetician but also a great writer. No one else in this tradition combined so well critical reflection on the arts with the practice of them. Lessing's work as a dramatist shaped his aesthetic thought, which in turn altered the course of the rationalist tradition. Since he saw that writers need inspiration, Lessing became more sceptical of rules, and more appreciative of genius, than most of his predecessors and contemporaries.
ISBN:0199573018
9780199573011
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573011.003.0009