A New Approach Based on“Sign-Phenomenology”and its Contributions to Western Aesthetic Study

“符号现象学”新方法及其对西方美学研究的贡献

In the traditional study of western aesthetics.dualism plays an important role.On the one hand,when we take a critical attitude to the study,we can see that it distinguishes“the beauty itself”from the beautiful thing,placing the idea(eidos)of beauty and the experiential thing which will be judged beautiful or not into two worlds(Plato).Its advantage is that it helps the latecomers to explore the nature of beauty thoroughly(Aristotle).lets the scholars understand beauty deeply.Its disadvantage,however,is very obvious;it puts the profound activity of sensing beauty into a dull and dry cognitive process,obscuring the richness and vividness of beauty.Especially,when some scholars who are influenced by cognition strongly take sensing beauty as judgment of beauty(Kant),they put aside the real situation of beauty.On the other hand,we need to explore the new approach to aesthetic study;a new theory based on Peirce and Husserl,which we call“sign-phenomenology”,can fulfill the task.It offers five principles and overcomes the disadvantages of the tradition,giving new insight and creation.Under its first principle“To the things themselves(zu den Sachen selbst)”,sensing beauty is taken as a generative activity,which deploys the skill of sensuous organs,reasoning,emotion,etc.Especially,the meaning of beauty is not added to or judged passively;instead,it emerges or originates actively.One of the most important contributions of the theory comes from the triadic relationship applied to substitute the old dualistic one.Generally speaking,the theory of“sign-phenomenology”,as a new approach,ought to broaden our horizons of western aesthetics study.

在西方美学研究中,二元论在其传统中占有重要地位。一方面,当我们以批判的态度来看待这一研究时,我们可以看到它将“美本身”与美的事物分开,将美的理念(eidos)与被判断为美或不美的经验事物分为两个世界(柏拉图)。它的优点是,有助于后来人深入探索美的本质(亚里士多德),让学者们深刻地理解美。然而,它的缺点也是非常明显的,它把深刻的感知美的活动置于枯燥乏味的认知活动中,掩盖了美的丰富性和生动性。特别是一些受认知影响比较深的学者,当他们把感知美作为对美的判断时(康德),就遮蔽了美的真实情况。另一方面,我们必须探索美学研究的新途径,建立在皮尔斯和胡塞尔理论的基础之上的“符号现象学”理论可以完成这一任务。它提出了五个原则,克服了传统的弊端,充满了新的洞察力和创造性。在其第一原则“对事物本身(zu den Sachen selbst)”下,感知美被视为一种孕育活动,调动了感官、推理和情感的能力等。尤其要注意的是,美的意义不是被判断或者被添加到事物上的;正相反,它是主动涌现或产生的。这一理论最重要的贡献是它的三元关系可以代替旧的二元关系。总而言之,“符号现象学”理论作为一种新的研究方法,将拓宽我们对西方美学研究的视野。