Harmony of Faculties and Ideas on the Beautiful and the Sublime: The Foundation of the Pedagogical Aspects of Kant’s Third Critique

This article employs the descriptive-analytical method and explores the interplay of faculties and ideas associated with the beautiful and the sublime to investigate the pedagogical dimensions of Kant’s third critique. The educational implications of the beautiful and the sublime for human talents and faculties will be explored. The human-centric aspect of the third critique is illuminated through a range of pedagogical (Bildung) ideas and aspects connected to the beautiful and the sublime. These include nurturing faculties and the soul, fostering the soul in the presence of natural and artistic beauties, relying on rational ends, and establishing harmony between understanding and imagination in relation to the beautiful. Additionally, the article delves into forming a conception of the whole in the mathematical sublime, achieving harmony between reason and imagination, finding consolation and sympathy in such experiences, and developing faculties through harmony amidst their strongest disharmonies concerning the dynamic sublime. It further discusses nurturing faculties in alignment with the development of natural and moral talents unique to the human species, whether in direct or indirect connection to ideas. The article also touches on preliminary moral training in harmony with the moral ideal related to the human end and preparedness for sociability based on the pleasure derived from the beautiful and the recovered sublime harmony with others. Other aspects covered include disciplining one’s taste, recognizing common sense as the foundation for comparing judgments, and correcting errors in judgments regarding beauty and sublimity. The article concludes by advocating for the promotion and enhancement of faculties engaged in encounters with the beautiful and the sublime.