Abstract

The 18th century was an unprecedentedly productive period in the history of philosophy in terms of aesthetic theories. The aesthetic theories created in this period directly reflect the discussions on epistemology, method, ontology, and human nature in the 18th century. When we examine the first aesthetic theories, we encounter two main lines that the theories feed on. The first of these is object-centered aesthetics, which is the aesthetic counterpart of Cartesian philosophy, and the other is subject-centered aesthetics, which is the aesthetic equivalent of Lockean empiricism. Jean-Baptiste Du Bos established subject-centered aesthetics by criticizing object-centered philosophy in his work Critical Reflections on Poetry and Painting at the beginning of the 18th century. Du Bos placed the subject at the center of aesthetic inquiry and defined art and aesthetic experience based on the subject's cognitive abilities, emotions, and psychology.

Critical Reflections is not only a theory of aesthetics but also a study of art history, art sociology, and art psychology. The study examines the historical development of different art genres and looks at how these genres have evolved over the centuries. In addition, it examines the effects of geographical conditions and cultural norms on art theories. Critical Reflections, which have an unprecedented scope, perhaps played the most important role in establishing aesthetics as an independent discipline and influenced all thinkers who wrote in the field of aesthetics in the 18th century. This article aims to reveal Jean-Baptiste Du Bos's contribution to aesthetic studies by examining the main lines of the aesthetic theory developed in Critical Reflections.

Key Words: Du Bos, aesthetics, 18th century, empiricism