Passivity in Aesthetic Experience: Husserlian and Enactive Perspectives
Journal of Aesthetics and Phenomenology January 2, 2019 Simon Høffding, Tone Roald 14 citations
Aesthetic experience includes an unavoidable dimension of passive undergoing and surprise, as shown by interviews with museum visitors and a world-renowned string quartet. Analyzing these experiences through Husserl's concept of "passive synthesis" helps explain them, including the sense of subject–object fusion in intense aesthetic encounters. This view is contrasted with enactive aesthetics from cognitive science, which emphasizes active subjective construction and sense-making. The paper argues that the two positions are compatible.