Practical Aesthetics vs. Aestheticism: How is the Art of Living Possible in a Multicrisis?

Abstract

The theses provide an understanding of the current transformations occurring at the level of aesthetics and aesthetic experience of everyday life in the context of the modern multi-crisis, which implies the coupling of difficult-to-solve socio-political and environmental problems. In the aesthetic life of a modern person, two possibilities are revealed: the first implies averting one’s gaze from the global problems of our time and escaping into the world of aesthetic experiences, the other, on the contrary, seeks to maintain aesthetic means to increase sensitivity to the current state of the world, which implies a creative transformation of life, including a reassessment of aesthetic values and habits. The first tendency can be considered as a modern form of aestheticism, an aesthetic ideology of modern society. It includes a model of aesthetic experience focused on material consumerism and the consumption of audiovisual and textual content, its task is to saturate a person with aesthetic experiences in order to close him on himself. The second tendency, on the contrary, activates human reflection in relation to one’s own aesthetic experiences, provokes going beyond the imposed model of aesthetic experience. It is here that the space of specific aesthetic practices is revealed, becoming the key content and subject of interest of practical aesthetics, the purpose of which is to unlock the perception of the world and sensitivity to it. This, in turn, implies that practical aesthetics is becoming not only a relevant direction of modern aesthetics, but also an important component of practical philosophy in general.