From Aesthetics towards a Social Theory of Art (Benedetto Croce)

Abstract

The article examines the views of B. Croce related to the social theory of art. The importance of the question lies in the fact that Croce, in essence, preached an interdisciplinary approach to the study of art. The article touches upon the ba­sic principle of the thinker’s aesthetics – the understanding of art as intuition. Croce’s system of views was based on the aesthetic canon, but the thinker rea­lized the need to understand art in a social way, so he focused on identifying the value nature of this phenomenon. A number of Croce’s works are devoted to the value foundations of art. The article reveals the prerequisites for Croce’s transition from aesthetics to the social theory of art. His approach to understan­ding the role of society in the existence of art and the influence of “social aes­thetics” on the rethinking of art are also analyzed. The peculiarity of his social views is revealed: in order to understand the essence of the phenomenon of art, it is first necessary to turn to the assessment of the capabilities of society in order to establish its “readiness” to comprehend art.