formalism

Eduard Hanslick, the first formalist thinker in music criticism, believed that music is the moving forms of tones. He argues that music is nothing but a form without any content or theme outside of its form. Therefore, music cannot express the feeling that comes from the outside, but if there is a feeling, it is the result of the forms and the structure of the music itself. The difference between music and other arts is that it cannot represent reality. Therefore, aesthetic judgment on music should be thoughtful and based on reflection rather than feeling. The content of music cannot be conceptual and the beauty of music is not objective. We can find these concepts by Hanslick in Immanuel Kant's The Critique of Judgment. Kant believes that beauty appears in the form of phenomena, on which  any aesthetic judgment should be based. Also, Kant believes that aesthetic judgment should not be based on personal interest or a specific goal, but should be general and universal so that it can be presented as a universal (subjectively necessary) judgment, that is, individual and personal feelings should not be involved in the judgment. Hanslik's approach to music criticism is also based on this concept.

In this paper, we intend to examine the controversy between Frege and Hilbert over geometry about abstract algebra; whether Frege's thinking about abstract algebra works out or Hilbert's? To this end, we first study the times when Frege and Hilbert were engaged in philosophy, to have an idea of the dominant intellectual atmosphere of that time and its influence on these two mathematicians. With this in mind, then we have pointed out some differences between Frege and Hilbert's approaches. We have concluded that their most important differences are the role of the subject in mathematics and the discussion about compatibility. After presenting the normative definition of algebra, we have investigated the points made by Hilbert and Frege, using the later Wittgenstein theories expressed in the books On Certainty and Philosophical Investigation. Finally, by considering all the aspects, we have concluded that what seems to be more useful in the philosophical study of algebra is a third approach, which is Wittgenstein's approach with some modifications, since it guarantees some important features. These features are meaningfulness, intersubjectivity, and rule-orientation, all of which are important features for mathematicians.

In modern times, with the avant-garde movement, recognizing the aesthetics object from a non- aesthetics object is difficult or impossible. Beardsley is one of the formalist philosophers who seeks to define the aesthetic object in order to make a difference between art and non-art. He first of all distinguishes aesthetic object from other aspects, such as paying attention to the artist''s intention or the author''s intention and audience’s perception, that the aspects are considered to be false inputs in the functionalist pattern and disrupt the aesthetic experience. According to this theory, the function of art is the make of aesthetic experience, which is characterized by features such as unity, complex and intensity. These features are followed by artistic value, the value that is the subject of the recognition of an artistic object, and the critic must be know it to use them in the evaluation of artwork that is content-centered. Because the aesthetic experience in art is its value and the only necessary condition for the work of art and is formed on the basis of a positive verdict, the purpose of this study is to identify the aesthetic object from the Beardsley view which can be defined by art. Our methodology, in terms of the nature of the research, is to collect materials through a library study and Internet search, then we examine and analyze them in order to obtain Beardsley’s definition of the aesthetic object and its status in art criticism

In this essay, we are trying to inquire and critique Allen Wood's ideas about the problem of formalism in Kantian Ethics. Wood is one of Kant's interpreters who has been dealing with the formalism problem for so many years. Once he believed that the problem is a real challenge for Kant's ethical thought and then he tried to suggest a solution for it.At first, we try to explain the theoretical foundation of the problem and in light of that show the importance of the problem for judging Kant's ethics and illustrate why and how the formalism problem was brought about. In the second part, we explain Wood's approach to the problem and critique the final position of him as an advocator. Then deal with critiques that Wood's solution can not handle; the critiques that Robert Pippin suggests and their foundations are in Hegelian heritage. In conclusion, we show that why ascribing a theory of value can not overcome the formalism challenge. In the same part, we introduce an approach that can help solve the problem; an approach that claims that we may be able to fill the emptiness of moral law and rational moral agent in Kant's ethics by focusing on Kant's philosophy of history and philosophy of religion provides. Contents that can shed light to solve the problem by connecting moral agents to the world and his concrete entity.

This article, mainly intends to survey the concepts of form and formalism, and their reflection in visual arts as a basic branch of modernist movement. In order to do so, the method of a contemporary theorist and critic, i.e. Greenberg's formalistic criticism, will be analyzed. According to formalism, says Greenberg, it is formal characteristics that constitute an artwork, thus its content would be the outcome of the realization of the form. Hence, the content of an artwork is a function of the formal elements. Greenberg bases his formalistic criticism on Kant's Critique of Judgment. Kant considered for art an independent distinct arena, which led to the 'Art for Art's Sake' movement in the formalistic art. Moreover, Greenberg's view on form was reinforced by Kant's Third Moment. He formulates his formalistic criticism on the basis of the concepts of autonomy and independence. In fact, Greenberg makes the Third Critique functional, regarding it as the philosophical foundation of modernism in general and formalism in particular. This article will consider the major elements of Kant's Third Critique concerning the form and formalism, and also their impacts on Greenberg; it will analyze his innovations in the field of art criticism, specially painting. Furthermore, it will explain the reasons why formalism influenced the contemporary art criticism, and will articulate the influence of Greenberg, as a forerunner of this trend, on the modernist artists.