Bruno Bauer’s critical theory of art and Hegel’s Lectures on Aesthetics in 1828-29

Abstract

Abstract The aim of my paper is to show to what extent Bruno Bauer’s first writing and his critical theory of art are indebted to Hegel’s last lectures on the aesthetics or the philosophy of art, which Bauer attended in 1828-29. First, I will deal with Bauer’s concept of myth (§ 1). To consider his concept of myth allows us to understand Bauer’s rhetorical strategy in the Young Hegelian movement. In a second step (§ 2), I will give an account of Bauer’s critical theory of art. Next, I will show (§ 3) how the prelude to his account of art was already present in his first writing, the dissertation On the principles of the beautiful, written in 1829. In the last part of my contribution (§ 4), I will take into account Hegel’s final lectures on aesthetics (1828-29), aiming at showing its significance for Bauer’s early reflections.