Homo aestheticus

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Can subjective, individual taste be reconciled with an objective, universal standard? Luc Ferry explores this central problem of aesthetic theory in relation to democratic individualism. He begins in the mid-1600s, when the concepts of taste (art as subjective pleasure) and modern democracy (the State as a consensus among individuals) emerged. By examining the evolution of aesthetic theory through Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, and avant-garde thinkers, Ferry distinguishes between subjectivity and individuality. He identifies two "moments" of avant-garde aesthetics: the hyperindividualistic iconoclasm of creating something entirely new, and the hyperrealistic pursuit of extraordinary truth. This tension, he argues, preserves an essential Enlightenment concern for reconciling the subjective and the objective, intertwining aesthetic, ethical, and political dimensions. Ferry rejects postmodern ideas advocating for a radical break from or a return to tradition, instead proposing a postmodernism that reinterprets Enlightenment values as a new intersubjectivity. His analysis of the rise and decline of the twentieth-century avant-garde movement offers fresh insights into the connections between aesthetics, ethics, and political theory.