1. Descartes' Meditations as the prototype of philosophical reflection. I have partieular reason for being glad that I may talk about transeendental phenomenology in this, the most venerable abode of Freneh seienee.l Franee's greatest thinker, Rene Deseartes, gave transeendental phenomenology new impulses through his Meditations; their study aeted quite direetly on the transfor- mation of an already developing phenomenology into a new kind of transeendental philosophy. Aeeordingly one might a...

In the twentieth century, avant-garde movements have pushed the concept of art far beyond its traditional boundaries. In this dynamical process of constant renewal the prestige of thinking about art as a legitimizing practice has come to the fore. So it is hardly surprising that the past decades have been characterized by a revival or even breakthrough of philosophy of art as a discipline.

However, the majority of books on aesthetics fail to combine a systematical philosophical discourse with...