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he called “pure” and “practical” reason dealt in turn with the problem of knowledge and then with the question of morality. The aesthetic function according to Kant was part of the general faculty of judgement, which he then described in his third critique as being the mediator between the other two. This third work was itself divided into two distinct sections, with the second half dealing with judgements based on purpose, or “teleology”. The first half, by contrast, dealt with the opposite situation, where aesthetic judgements are made which are independent of purpose. This was one of Kant’s main principles in his definition of the beautiful which he claims consists of a kind of “purposiveness without purpose”.10 Nature again became the model for the judgement of beauty in art, where the object is seen as having its own inner purpose. This is as distinct from being a means to an end and involves the independence of the artwork from any use by the observer. These are just some of the tests as to the nature of the aesthetic, which Kant attempted to establish as a kind of autonomous realm. Another of his claims which exerted a long-lasting influence was the idea that beautiful art was the product of inspired genius. He described the culmination of ideas already hinted at above, that art was essentially about invention rather than the imitation of models. This suggests the transcendence of traditional Classical principles and prepares the way for the Romantic movement in the decades to follow:
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