Immediate judgment and non-cognitive ideas: The pervasive and persistent in the misreading of Kant’s Aesthetic formalism

Abstract

Kant’s aesthetic theory is misinterpreted when understood in terms of uncritical empiricism. By analyzing standard interpretations of Kant’s aesthetic formalism, McMahon argues that the meaning of direct/immediate and non-cognitive judgment is distorted when taken out of the context of Kant’s critical system of the mind. She concludes by drawing out the implications for understanding Kant’s aesthetic theory in the contemporary context.