Based on the application of literary aesthetic and axiological ideas of Roman Ingarden to the interpretation of Chapter XXV of Part I of Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy’s War and Peace, it shows what the experience of a literary artistic work consists of in relation to the perception of aesthetic, metaphysical, and artistic values. The main thesis states: the aesthetic experience as the concretization of the artistic work enables the experience of three types of values. First, in the aesthetic experience of the constituted aesthetic object, aesthetic value is perceived. Second, in the experience of aesthetic value, the metaphysical value of what is artistically represented and aesthetically experienced is recognized. Third - based on the recognized metaphysical value and the experienced aesthetic value - the artistic value of the literary artistic work is judged. An additional thesis - formulated based on the interpretation of a chapter from Tolstoy’s novel - states: the concretization of the artistic work through aesthetic experience allows for the recognition of different metaphysical values that can be mutually opposed. The aesthetic experience can direct us toward one or the other opposing metaphysical value, with one of possible aesthetic experiences being effective, while the other is both effective and in accordance with the artistic work and its artistic value.
This paper examines the accidental nature of the work of art in the thought of Eustratius of Nicaea, an eleventh-century Byzantine philosopher and bishop. This perspective is analyzed through his foundational writings: The Dialogue on Holy Icons, The Syllogistic Proofs, and The Commentary on Book VI of the Nicomachean Ethics. His standpoint on the work of art as a depiction of the being’s accidents is a emerged from his reflections on the mode of icon veneration, which are elaborated through debates on the subject with Leo of Chalcedon. The implications of such an understanding are far-reaching; thus, the study also explores the position of art in relation to wisdom and theology as the criterion for the superiority of knowledge. Due to its accidental nature, the visual art occupies a lower position compared to wisdom and theology proper, which is essentially conceptual, although in a broader sense it also concerns itself with the icons.
The text discusses the relationship between aesthetic theory and aesthetic experience - the way in which aesthetic theory influences the aesthetic experience. The central thesis of the text is that aesthetic theory has the power to enhance the act of aesthetic reception, that is, the experience of a work of art. By analyzing the significance of one of the key concepts of phenomenological aesthetics - the concept of so-called essential truth - the author, through the lens of this concept, examines the philosophical aspects of several literary works and concludes that thanks to the concept of essential truth, metaphysical qualities (as defined in Roman Ingarden’s phenomenological theory) crystallize within the literary work. Furthermore, the theoretical understanding of this concept profoundly deepens the very experience of the work of art.
The topic of the artistic framework of digital works through the lens of Arthur Danto’s theory provides a unique perspective on how art is formed and valued in the contemporary digital age, especially in the context of art created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Danto emphasized that art becomes art not because of the inherent properties of the work itself, but through the institutional framework in which the work is placed and recognized. This paper explores the application of Danto’s concept of the „artistic frame” to digital art, using the group Obvious and their work Portrait of Edmond de Belamy, the most expensive artwork created with AI, as an example. Through the analysis of this piece, it examines how, in the contemporary context, the valuation of art shifts from traditional physical objects to digital, generative processes where AI plays a key role. The Portrait of Edmond de Belamy, which became a symbol of a new artistic direction and commercial success, illustrates how institutional frameworks (such as auction houses, galleries and online platforms) enable the recognition of digital works as art. Through Danto’s framework, it is discussed how digital art, although created by technology, is recognized as art through the acceptance of cultural and market norms that define its artistic status. This paper concludes that the artistic framework of digital works lies not only in the technology that creates them but in the process of their acceptance within contemporary artistic institutions and markets.
This paper examines Augustine’s teaching on music, with particular focus on his understanding of the experience of music within the framework of Christian ontology. It demonstrates that Augustine’s conception of music represents a deeply reflective model of aesthetic experience - one that is not reduced to mere sense perception, but rather involves the totality of the human being. The central concept of numerus, signifying both number and rhythm (measure), serves in Augustine’s thought as a key to understanding not only music itself, but also the relationship between created and uncreated reality. Special attention is given to the relationship between music and time: through the experience of music, the human being becomes directly aware of its own temporality, which in turn leads to a deeper understanding of the relation between the esse of the creature and the divine esse. In this light, music emerges as a distinctive form of aesthetic-ontological experience, one that reveals the very structure of human existence.
