Luciana Martinez

HPhil-CFUL

Originality and Taste: Kant on Genius

1 April 2025, 17h00 (Lisbon Time — GMT+1)

Sala Mattos Romão (Room C201.J – Department of Philosophy)

School of Arts and Humanities – University of Lisbon

Abstract

In this contribution I intend to develop an interpretation of the Kantian view of genius. From the earliest sources up to the Critique of Judgement, we can identify some variations in Kant’s thinking on this issue. In my view, the most significant variation that occurred during the pre-critical period, and which took place towards the end of the silent decade, is the specification of genius as a feature of art-making. At that time, furthermore, Kant began to mention Shakespeare as a genius in his Anthropology lectures, according to the available notes. I argue that, in relation to the figure of Shakespeare, there is another significant turn in Kant’s thinking about artistic creation. This change is expressed especially in the Critique of Judgement, where Kant omits Shakespeare’s name and, moreover, adds an explanation of the technical aspects of artistic creation. The specific aim of my paper is to justify the claim of this second turn and to explain what it consists of and why it occurs.