Pedro Sargento | ULHT - Universidade Lusofona de Humanidades e Tecnologias (original) (raw)

Papers by Pedro Sargento

This text attempts to provide an introduction in portuguese to the vast theme of the «Ontology of... more This text attempts to provide an introduction in portuguese to the vast theme of the «Ontology of Liberty» of Pareyson. Pareyson's philosophy can be described as an existential hermeneutics, with a strong religious and eschatological tone. I release this text publicly, as I believe Pareyson's philosophy deserves to be better known worldwide and in the specific context of portuguese-speaking academic world. Pareyson'thought has influenced a generation of later 20th Century italian philosophers, such as Gianni Vattimo, Umberto Eco and Mario Perniola.

Aesthetics of Violence, Marinetti-marketeer and the global climate change. This paper (in Italian... more Aesthetics of Violence, Marinetti-marketeer and the global climate change. This paper (in Italian) focuses on the appropriation of some concepts hidden in a distant past by Futurism, the avant-garde movement born in 1909. Despite tributing the Past and at the same time rethorically investing against it, Futurism is also a lot of what its name states. The future of Futurism may be our present, its legacy consisting in a sort of degenerated, exotopic, paranoic, violent and rumorous globalized aesthetical ultra-avangarde. The speculative hypothesis underlying this thesis is that Futurism expresses itself long after its death, in the form of an aesthetical experience that rejects any art, any frame and any figure to become solely the presentification of its main themes: speed, violence and simultaneity.

*PAPER IS IN PORTUGUESE* ABSTRACT: Whilst a primary concept in Philosophy and, particularly, in ... more *PAPER IS IN PORTUGUESE*

ABSTRACT: Whilst a primary concept in Philosophy and, particularly, in Aesthetics, «form» is subject to a transformation since its most original formulation in Plato’s thought. Considering the changes that occur within the semantic field of this concept, by the second half of the 19th Century, especially in the post and anti-hegelian thought, «form» will end up being referred mainly to the realm of immanence, its determinations connected with the dimensions of the concrete fact, materiality and presentiality in space-time. This inversion on the original properties associated to «form» is completed within a wide network of theorizations, concerning several fields of knowledge, delimiting the concept on its new meaning. In Aesthetics, the very eloquent anti-idealism of Johann Friedrich Herbart rehabilitates the centrality of the judgement of taste in Aesthetics, which is the base of his «psychological formalism». This psychological formalism, in turn, operates by isolating the formal components of an aesthetical object (an artistic form) and on the psycho-sensitive relation between the subject and the object. Moreover, it is Aesthetics itself that suffers an attempted conversion into a «general science of art», mainly through the redefinition and the true self-determination of Art History, as a discipline with its own methodological principles. The results of this backgrounds manifest fully in the so called «Vienna school» of Art History, in the «pure-visibility» theory of Konrad Fiedler and Adolf von Hildebrand and in the upcoming of a psycho-physiological Aesthetics, which, in turn, settles the grounds for a turn towards the search for the «fundamental concepts» of Art History, in the works of Alois Riegl, Heinrich Wölfflin and Wilhelm Worringer.

In this paper, a shortened version of my previous article published in "Calixtilia", I attempt to... more In this paper, a shortened version of my previous article published in "Calixtilia", I attempt to answer the following question: In which ways can an extreme externalism affect our experience of everyday objects, such as buildings, works of art or other human beings?

… -Revista Lusófona de Línguas, Culturas e …, Jan 1, 2011

Books by Pedro Sargento

Talks by Pedro Sargento

Modern Aesthetics’ answer to the question of «form» seems to make its two classic fields of resea... more Modern Aesthetics’ answer to the question of «form» seems to make its two classic fields of research merge into one.
As the critique and theory of art of the second half of the 19th century produced the methodological principles that established Art History as an autonomous discipline, the work of art became the undisputed center of knowledge about art, through a strong settlement and realization of its material, presential and spatio-temporal nature. This vast research direction on «form» understands the artistic form within a sensory-cognitive relationship to a subject who, far from being a pure and abstract element, it is the agent of any emotion that might be associated with art, as shown by the theory of Einfühlung (empathy).
There is, however, nothing specifying that the properties associated with «form» must be instantiated by a work of art. In fact, such a form, being primarily a presential, visible figure and self-referential image, holds an immediate connection with relational dynamics within society, since value and/or judgment of value, meaning and identities are strictly related to what is seen and what is felt. Moreover, the mere process of valuing something seems to manifest itself in the way non-artistic inorganic objects assume vitality and feeling, at least since Marx stated that commercial goods hold a fetishist and alienating disposition. The analysis of sexualized goods and artifacts reaches even wider psychological and cultural depths with the fascination of Lacan with «the thing» (das Ding) and of Benjamin with the sex-appeal of the inorganic, i.e., the «vitrinization» and exhibition of goods in the arcades of 19th century Paris.
I aim to clarify how in our complex capitalist societies the interplay between organic and inorganic replaces the subject with a «body-thing», or a «body-form». My purpose is to present the Aesthetics of the body-form and demonstrate that this «low materialism» of the body represents an important interpretative key to the social, sensual and political dynamics of contemporary culture.

Da animação comunicante do inorgânico. A condução do conceito de inorgânico para o campo da hist... more Da animação comunicante do inorgânico.

A condução do conceito de inorgânico para o campo da história da arte foi primeiramente feita pelos autores do séc. XIX que consideraram a evolução histórica das formas segundo «conceitos fundamentais». O inorgânico constituiria assim uma categoria estética, na medida em que as formas minerais, como o cristal, seriam representantes de uma ordem geométrica perfeita na natureza (Alois Riegl). Por sua vez, a procura por uma ordem perfeita refletir-se-ia na produção artística dos povos, em função da procura por uma arte da pacificação e da abstração (Wilhelm Worringer). Regra geral, estes autores procedem a uma interpretação da história da arte segundo as transformações verificadas no Lebensgefühl (sentimento de vida) dos povos e das épocas. Assim, a presença do inorgânico revela uma necessidade de estabelecer os termos em que o «mundo das coisas» comunica com a senciência humana. É neste sentido que uma outra categoria estética, a empatia, dá conta de um processo de projeção da vida íntima do sujeito em algo fora dele (Friedrich Vischer), oferecendo a possibilidade de pensar a experiência estética nos termos de um relação comunicante entre as emoções humanas e o mundo neutro e aparentemente vazio de um objeto (Walter Benjamin, Mario Perniola). A «empatia para com o inorgânico» pode assim ser pensada como a relação estética propriamente dita, do ponto de vista do sujeito que sente. Mas será possível, nas cartografias do séc. XXI, deslocar a nossa perspetiva para o lado do objeto? Existe uma vida objetual, uma carga vital interior ao inorgânico (Remo Bodei, Jane Bennett)? A nossa comunicação pretende oferecer uma apresentação histórica destes conceitos e indagar o modo de sentir contemporâneo através deste eixo comunicante entre senciência e coisa, entre sentimento e impassividade, entre humano e inorgânico.

As a philosophical discipline, Aesthetics has, since its foundations in the 18th Century, gathere... more As a philosophical discipline, Aesthetics has, since its foundations in the 18th Century, gathered a wide range of interests and focuses. The idea that Aesthetics is mainly concerned with the work of art was definitely abandoned in early 20th century, with the claim of a radical autonomy of art put forward by the avant-garde movements, although this separation occurred already in the previous decades, through the attempt of establishing a “general science of art”.
However, this separations or delimitations do not imply that Aesthetics has been voided of any real interest or meaning. In fact, during the last century, Aesthetics has expanded through the contributions of not only philosophers, but also writers, poets, and social scientists. The reason for this lays, I believe, in what is called today the “cultural turn” in Aesthetics (cf. JAMESON 1998; PATELLA 2005). Aesthetics has gained its own space by providing insight into a wide variety of cultural, social and political phenomena and by carrying on a deep reflection on issues concerning historical analysis, the modes of production, as well as contemporary forms of rituality, sexuality or symbolism. Aesthetics has thus been playing one of the major roles in the multidisciplinary trend that continues to be felt as necessary for a correct interpretation of social phenomena and for a deep understanding of the identifying elements of contemporary culture. In this paper, I attempt to show how this cultural turn must be taken into account as one of the most significant conditions on which the Philosophy of the late 20th century developed.

Enquanto conceito fundamental na história da filosofia e, em particular, na história do pensament... more Enquanto conceito fundamental na história da filosofia e, em particular, na história do pensamento estético, a forma assume um caráter transformativo já a partir da sua mais original formulação na platónica teoria das ideias. Considerando a mutação do campo semântico associado a este conceito, a segunda metade do séc. XIX, em particular a deriva pós e anti-hegeliana, acaba por instaurar a forma no domínio da imanência total, assimilando as suas determinações ao facto concreto, à presencialidade e à espácio-temporalidade. Esta inversão da natureza dos atributos originais do conceito de forma é levada a efeito por uma rede de teorizações envolvendo diferentes domínios do saber, circunscrevendo por completo o conceito no seu novo significado. Do lado da estética propriamente dita, a filosofia de Herbart, com uma muito veemente recusa do idealismo metafísico, recupera a centralidade do juízo de gosto na estética, lançando as bases de um formalismo psicológico que concentra a atenção no isolamento das componentes formais do objeto estético (a forma artística) e na relação psico-sensorial entre forma e sujeito. Por outro lado, a mesma estética sofre uma tentativa de recondução a uma pura ciência da arte (Kunstwissenschaft), principalmente através da reelaboração e da verdadeira autodeterminação da história da arte, enquanto disciplina construída sobre uma metodologia específica. As bases lançadas por estas renovações atingem a sua expressão máxima no âmbito da chamada «escola de Viena» de história da arte, nas teorias «purovisibilistas» de Konrad Fiedler e Adolf von Hildebrand e na emergência de uma estética «psicofisiológica» que serve de plano comum à viragem em direção à procura pelos «conceitos fundamentais» da história da arte, nas teorias de Alois Riegl, Heinrich Wölfflin e Wilhelm Worringer.

PhD. Thesis synopsis by Pedro Sargento

This text attempts to provide an introduction in portuguese to the vast theme of the «Ontology of... more This text attempts to provide an introduction in portuguese to the vast theme of the «Ontology of Liberty» of Pareyson. Pareyson's philosophy can be described as an existential hermeneutics, with a strong religious and eschatological tone. I release this text publicly, as I believe Pareyson's philosophy deserves to be better known worldwide and in the specific context of portuguese-speaking academic world. Pareyson'thought has influenced a generation of later 20th Century italian philosophers, such as Gianni Vattimo, Umberto Eco and Mario Perniola.

Aesthetics of Violence, Marinetti-marketeer and the global climate change. This paper (in Italian... more Aesthetics of Violence, Marinetti-marketeer and the global climate change. This paper (in Italian) focuses on the appropriation of some concepts hidden in a distant past by Futurism, the avant-garde movement born in 1909. Despite tributing the Past and at the same time rethorically investing against it, Futurism is also a lot of what its name states. The future of Futurism may be our present, its legacy consisting in a sort of degenerated, exotopic, paranoic, violent and rumorous globalized aesthetical ultra-avangarde. The speculative hypothesis underlying this thesis is that Futurism expresses itself long after its death, in the form of an aesthetical experience that rejects any art, any frame and any figure to become solely the presentification of its main themes: speed, violence and simultaneity.

*PAPER IS IN PORTUGUESE* ABSTRACT: Whilst a primary concept in Philosophy and, particularly, in ... more *PAPER IS IN PORTUGUESE*

ABSTRACT: Whilst a primary concept in Philosophy and, particularly, in Aesthetics, «form» is subject to a transformation since its most original formulation in Plato’s thought. Considering the changes that occur within the semantic field of this concept, by the second half of the 19th Century, especially in the post and anti-hegelian thought, «form» will end up being referred mainly to the realm of immanence, its determinations connected with the dimensions of the concrete fact, materiality and presentiality in space-time. This inversion on the original properties associated to «form» is completed within a wide network of theorizations, concerning several fields of knowledge, delimiting the concept on its new meaning. In Aesthetics, the very eloquent anti-idealism of Johann Friedrich Herbart rehabilitates the centrality of the judgement of taste in Aesthetics, which is the base of his «psychological formalism». This psychological formalism, in turn, operates by isolating the formal components of an aesthetical object (an artistic form) and on the psycho-sensitive relation between the subject and the object. Moreover, it is Aesthetics itself that suffers an attempted conversion into a «general science of art», mainly through the redefinition and the true self-determination of Art History, as a discipline with its own methodological principles. The results of this backgrounds manifest fully in the so called «Vienna school» of Art History, in the «pure-visibility» theory of Konrad Fiedler and Adolf von Hildebrand and in the upcoming of a psycho-physiological Aesthetics, which, in turn, settles the grounds for a turn towards the search for the «fundamental concepts» of Art History, in the works of Alois Riegl, Heinrich Wölfflin and Wilhelm Worringer.

In this paper, a shortened version of my previous article published in "Calixtilia", I attempt to... more In this paper, a shortened version of my previous article published in "Calixtilia", I attempt to answer the following question: In which ways can an extreme externalism affect our experience of everyday objects, such as buildings, works of art or other human beings?

… -Revista Lusófona de Línguas, Culturas e …, Jan 1, 2011

Modern Aesthetics’ answer to the question of «form» seems to make its two classic fields of resea... more Modern Aesthetics’ answer to the question of «form» seems to make its two classic fields of research merge into one.
As the critique and theory of art of the second half of the 19th century produced the methodological principles that established Art History as an autonomous discipline, the work of art became the undisputed center of knowledge about art, through a strong settlement and realization of its material, presential and spatio-temporal nature. This vast research direction on «form» understands the artistic form within a sensory-cognitive relationship to a subject who, far from being a pure and abstract element, it is the agent of any emotion that might be associated with art, as shown by the theory of Einfühlung (empathy).
There is, however, nothing specifying that the properties associated with «form» must be instantiated by a work of art. In fact, such a form, being primarily a presential, visible figure and self-referential image, holds an immediate connection with relational dynamics within society, since value and/or judgment of value, meaning and identities are strictly related to what is seen and what is felt. Moreover, the mere process of valuing something seems to manifest itself in the way non-artistic inorganic objects assume vitality and feeling, at least since Marx stated that commercial goods hold a fetishist and alienating disposition. The analysis of sexualized goods and artifacts reaches even wider psychological and cultural depths with the fascination of Lacan with «the thing» (das Ding) and of Benjamin with the sex-appeal of the inorganic, i.e., the «vitrinization» and exhibition of goods in the arcades of 19th century Paris.
I aim to clarify how in our complex capitalist societies the interplay between organic and inorganic replaces the subject with a «body-thing», or a «body-form». My purpose is to present the Aesthetics of the body-form and demonstrate that this «low materialism» of the body represents an important interpretative key to the social, sensual and political dynamics of contemporary culture.

Da animação comunicante do inorgânico. A condução do conceito de inorgânico para o campo da hist... more Da animação comunicante do inorgânico.

A condução do conceito de inorgânico para o campo da história da arte foi primeiramente feita pelos autores do séc. XIX que consideraram a evolução histórica das formas segundo «conceitos fundamentais». O inorgânico constituiria assim uma categoria estética, na medida em que as formas minerais, como o cristal, seriam representantes de uma ordem geométrica perfeita na natureza (Alois Riegl). Por sua vez, a procura por uma ordem perfeita refletir-se-ia na produção artística dos povos, em função da procura por uma arte da pacificação e da abstração (Wilhelm Worringer). Regra geral, estes autores procedem a uma interpretação da história da arte segundo as transformações verificadas no Lebensgefühl (sentimento de vida) dos povos e das épocas. Assim, a presença do inorgânico revela uma necessidade de estabelecer os termos em que o «mundo das coisas» comunica com a senciência humana. É neste sentido que uma outra categoria estética, a empatia, dá conta de um processo de projeção da vida íntima do sujeito em algo fora dele (Friedrich Vischer), oferecendo a possibilidade de pensar a experiência estética nos termos de um relação comunicante entre as emoções humanas e o mundo neutro e aparentemente vazio de um objeto (Walter Benjamin, Mario Perniola). A «empatia para com o inorgânico» pode assim ser pensada como a relação estética propriamente dita, do ponto de vista do sujeito que sente. Mas será possível, nas cartografias do séc. XXI, deslocar a nossa perspetiva para o lado do objeto? Existe uma vida objetual, uma carga vital interior ao inorgânico (Remo Bodei, Jane Bennett)? A nossa comunicação pretende oferecer uma apresentação histórica destes conceitos e indagar o modo de sentir contemporâneo através deste eixo comunicante entre senciência e coisa, entre sentimento e impassividade, entre humano e inorgânico.

As a philosophical discipline, Aesthetics has, since its foundations in the 18th Century, gathere... more As a philosophical discipline, Aesthetics has, since its foundations in the 18th Century, gathered a wide range of interests and focuses. The idea that Aesthetics is mainly concerned with the work of art was definitely abandoned in early 20th century, with the claim of a radical autonomy of art put forward by the avant-garde movements, although this separation occurred already in the previous decades, through the attempt of establishing a “general science of art”.
However, this separations or delimitations do not imply that Aesthetics has been voided of any real interest or meaning. In fact, during the last century, Aesthetics has expanded through the contributions of not only philosophers, but also writers, poets, and social scientists. The reason for this lays, I believe, in what is called today the “cultural turn” in Aesthetics (cf. JAMESON 1998; PATELLA 2005). Aesthetics has gained its own space by providing insight into a wide variety of cultural, social and political phenomena and by carrying on a deep reflection on issues concerning historical analysis, the modes of production, as well as contemporary forms of rituality, sexuality or symbolism. Aesthetics has thus been playing one of the major roles in the multidisciplinary trend that continues to be felt as necessary for a correct interpretation of social phenomena and for a deep understanding of the identifying elements of contemporary culture. In this paper, I attempt to show how this cultural turn must be taken into account as one of the most significant conditions on which the Philosophy of the late 20th century developed.

Enquanto conceito fundamental na história da filosofia e, em particular, na história do pensament... more Enquanto conceito fundamental na história da filosofia e, em particular, na história do pensamento estético, a forma assume um caráter transformativo já a partir da sua mais original formulação na platónica teoria das ideias. Considerando a mutação do campo semântico associado a este conceito, a segunda metade do séc. XIX, em particular a deriva pós e anti-hegeliana, acaba por instaurar a forma no domínio da imanência total, assimilando as suas determinações ao facto concreto, à presencialidade e à espácio-temporalidade. Esta inversão da natureza dos atributos originais do conceito de forma é levada a efeito por uma rede de teorizações envolvendo diferentes domínios do saber, circunscrevendo por completo o conceito no seu novo significado. Do lado da estética propriamente dita, a filosofia de Herbart, com uma muito veemente recusa do idealismo metafísico, recupera a centralidade do juízo de gosto na estética, lançando as bases de um formalismo psicológico que concentra a atenção no isolamento das componentes formais do objeto estético (a forma artística) e na relação psico-sensorial entre forma e sujeito. Por outro lado, a mesma estética sofre uma tentativa de recondução a uma pura ciência da arte (Kunstwissenschaft), principalmente através da reelaboração e da verdadeira autodeterminação da história da arte, enquanto disciplina construída sobre uma metodologia específica. As bases lançadas por estas renovações atingem a sua expressão máxima no âmbito da chamada «escola de Viena» de história da arte, nas teorias «purovisibilistas» de Konrad Fiedler e Adolf von Hildebrand e na emergência de uma estética «psicofisiológica» que serve de plano comum à viragem em direção à procura pelos «conceitos fundamentais» da história da arte, nas teorias de Alois Riegl, Heinrich Wölfflin e Wilhelm Worringer.