End and continuity of art according to Hegel’s “Courses of Aesthetics”

Abstract

I intend to present what would follow to the theory of the end of Art in Hegel’s “Courses of Aesthetics”, in terms of functions attributed to the creation and reception of works of art in contemporary times. After shortly explaining what it means, in this context, to speak of “the end of Art,” I sustain the interpretative hypothesis that the end of metaphysical Art does not imply that no more authentic works of art are produced, for it is considered by Hegel that, essentially, there would continue to be art insofar as it continues to be spiritual, not natural production. I indicate that the texts allow to envisage that their origin would only be displaced, as spiritual work: from the Content of the Absolute Spirit to the content of the individual spirit of each contemporary artist. I conclude considering if the Hegelian definitions may be a still valid criterion in contemporary philosophical Aesthetics.