The unbearable lightness of objects: Günter Figal’s spatial aesthetics

Abstract

The main work of philosopher Günter Figal (1949–2024) was to undertake the continuation of hermeneutical philosophy after the deaths of its three major proponents: Heidegger, Gadamer, and Ricoeur. Figal’s philosophical project combines both phenomenology and hermeneutics and presents the task of philosophy as being essentially hermeneutical. He also proposes that aesthetics is phenomenology, as nothing is more phenomenal than the work of art, which is out there to be interpreted. His contribution to aesthetics is generally based on his notions of the objectivity [Gegenständlichkeit] and spatiality of artworks. The objectivity of artworks makes obvious their spatiality, and space makes the objectness of the art object most apparent. Both objectivity and spatiality are also essential to the hermeneutics of art. Figal’s contribution to aesthetics, however, is underexplored. The present study thus aims to undertake a conceptual analysis of Figal’s contributions to aesthetics, especially his concepts of objectivity [Gegenständlichkeit] and spatiality of art. In so doing, the present study aims to present an account of Figal’s aesthetics, highlighting its place in the German aesthetic tradition.