Abstract
Gadamer repeatedly reflected on the concept of imagination in Kant's aesthetics from a critical perspective. His discussions on this subject constitute an important theoretical dimension of the hermeneutical conception of imagination. In Truth and Method, Gadamer grounds imagination in the play space wherein Dasein engages with beings, and, through ontological thinking, dissolves the subjectivization of the free play of imagination as well as the principle of the priority of understanding. In “Intuition and Vividness,” Gadamer liberates artistic intuition from mere receptivity under stimulative conditions through the original nature of imagination. At the same time, he interprets Kant's theory of genius and the “Ideal of the Beautiful” as a prefiguration of primordial intuition. This approach transcends the dualism between sensibility and intellect, and it establishes imaginative intuition as the foundation of aesthetic cognition. Viewed from the practical path of hermeneutics, Gadamer does not endorse the Kantian model that privileges determinative judgement. Instead, he emphasizes imaginative capacity for creative adaptation within concrete existential situations. Correspondingly, reflective judgment transcends the constraints of subject-centered aesthetics and operates within historical practice, which further illuminates hermeneutics' principle of aesthetic non-differentiation.
Keywords
hermeneutic imagination, artistic truth, intuition, reflective judgment
First Page
161
Last Page
170
Recommended Citation
Nong, Wencong. 2026. "Gadamer's Interpretation and Reconstruction of the Theory of Imagination in Kant's Aesthetics." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 46, (1): pp.161-170. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol46/iss1/16
