ABSTRACT
In her article “Die Irrealität des Kunstwerkes,” first published in 1938, Hedwig Conrad-Martius delves into the question of the artistic representation of the real reality of the world, which basically concerns the classical distinction between art and nature. It is in this context that Conrad-Martius rejects idealism and the concomitant assumption that an artwork imitates the “living reality” of Nature. She clearly distinguishes between the task of phenomenology and that of art: while phenomenology should surpass the sphere of mere sensuous appearances and inquire into the “real reality” (wirkliche Wirklichkeit) of the world, phenomenological aesthetics should conversely deal with the expressive character of appearances and assume their inherent “irreality” (Irrealität), such that phenomenological ontology and aesthetics involve distinctive ontological realms that vary according to the subject-matter. However, while she clearly distances herself from Husserl’s phenomenology in her search for the consciousness-independent facticity of the world, she concurs with him in her eidetic enquiries and in the assertion of the creative potential of art, which lies in the creation of a new, even “irreal,” world. For this purpose, I will explore confluences and divergences between their respective conceptions.
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Notes
1. On her biography, see: Hart, Ontological Phenomenology, 1–4; and Miron, Phenomenological Gateway, 3–22.
2. Ibid.
3. See Breuer, “Sein, Wesen, Existenz.”
4. Husserl, Logische Untersuchungen, 197.
5. Conrad-Martius (in what follows: “CM”), “Zur Ontologie,“ 413, 317.
6. CM, Realontologie, 196.
7. Hart, Ontological Phenomenology, 14. See: Pfeiffer, phänomenologische Sicht; and Miron, Phenomenological Gateway, ch. 5, 167–192.
8. CM; “Über das Wesen,” 325.
9. Ibid., 325.
10. Hart, Ontological Phenomenology, 15–6.
11. CM, Zur Ontologie, 417–8.
12. Ibid., 417.
13. Ibid., 389, n.1.; see: CM, “Bemerkungen,” 81.
14. CM, Realontologie, 159.
15. CM, “Die transzendentale,” 397.
16. CM, “Bemerkungen,” 88; see: Bertolini, “Two Phases.”
17. CM, “Bemerkungen,” 81.
18. Ibid., 83.
19. CM, “Die transzendentale,” 396.
20. Ibid., 397.
21. See: Breuer, “The Real Reality.”
22. Ibid., 396.
23. Ibid., 398.
24. Husserl, Ideas, 27.
25. Ibid., 221, mod. trans.
26. CM, “Die transzendentale,” 398.
27. Ibid., 397.
28. Hart, Ontological Phenomenology, 44.
29. Sepp, “Husserl und Conrad-Martius,” 226.
30. see note 26 above
31. Ibid., 401.
32. Ibid., 399.
33. Ibid., 398.
34. Ibid., 397.
35. CM, “Bemerkungen,” 54.
36. Ibid., 56.
37. CM, “Die fundamentale Bedeutung,” 230; see: Gighi, “The Real-Constitution,” 464–467.
38. Marbach, “Introduction,” xxviii.
39. Brough, “Introduction,” XXX.
40. Angelucci, “Waldemar Conrad.”
41. Conrad, “Der ästhetische Gegenstand,” 78.
42. Ibid., 487.
43. Ibid., 490.
44. Ibid., 489.
45. Husserl, Phantasy, 168.
46. Ibid., 704.
47. Ibid., 616.
48. Ibid., 619.
49. Ibid., 620.
50. Ibid., 642.
51. Ibid., 649.
52. Ibid., 642–3.
53. Ibid.
54. Ibid., 643.
55. Ibid.
56. CM, “Farben,” 341.
57. CM, Realontologie, 169.
58. Ibid., 167, 187.
59. Ibid., 177, 185, 187.
60. Ibid., 177.
61. Ibid., 180.
62. CM, Das Sein, 105.
63. Ibid.
64. Ibid., 108.
65. CM, Realontologie, 169.
66. CM, “Farben,” 342.
67. Ibid.
68. Ibid., 341.
69. Ibid., 344.
70. Ibid.
71. Ibid., 345.
72. Goethe, Farbenlehre, xlii.
73. CM, “Farben,” 345.
74. Ibid., 348.
75. Ibid., 352.
76. Ibid.
77. Ibid.
78. Ibid., 353.
79. Ibid., 355.
80. Heidegger, “The Origin,” 19–20.
81. CM, “Farben,” 360.
82. Ibid., 361.
83. Schapp, Beiträge, 23.
84. Ibid., 120f.
85. Ibid., 126.
86. CM, “Farben,” 357.
87. Ibid., 358–360.
88. Ibid., 360–1.
89. Ibid., 361.
90. Ibid., 362–364.
91. Ibid., 370.
92. CM, “Licht und Geist,” 260.
93. Ibid., 263.
94. Ibid., 268.
95. Ibid., 269.
96. CM, “Stoff und Licht,” 281.
97. Ibid., 288.
98. Frieling, Die Sprache, 95.
99. CM, “Zwei Buchbesprechungen,” 495.
100. CM, “Farben,” 370.
101. Walzel, Gehalt und Gestalt, 67–8.
102. CM, “Die Irrealität,” 249.
103. Ibid., 251.
104. Theodor, “Die Darstellung,” 133.
105. Ibid., 136.
106. Ibid., 147.
107. CM, “Die Irrealität,” 252.
108. Ibid.
109. Ibid., 250.
110. Ibid.
111. Wöllflin, Kunstgeschichtliche, ch. I.
112. Wöllflin, Principles, 10.
113. See note 107 above.
114. Ibid.
115. Theodor, “Die Darstellung,” 157.
116. CM, “Die Irrealität,” 252, fn.
117. Wöllflin, Principles, 16.
118. Ibid., 21.
119. Ibid., 27.
120. CM, “Die Irrealität,” 253.
121. Ibid.
122. Ibid.
123. CM, “Empirische,” 318.
124. See note 120 above.
125. CM, “Empirische,” 329.
126. CM, “Die Irrealität,” 254.
127. Ibid.
128. Ibid., 255.
129. Ibid.
130. Ibid., 256.
131. Ibid.
132. Ibid., 257.
133. Ibid., 258.
134. Ibid.
135. Ibid.
136. Ibid.
137. Ibid.
138. Ibid.
139. Ibid.
140. Walzel, Gehalt und Gestalt, 167; and Goethe, “Einfache Nachahmung,” 126.
141. CM, “Farben,” 260.
142. Ibid.
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Irene Breuer
Irene Breuer has a degree both in Architecture and in Philosophy from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Argentina, and a PhD in Philosophy from the Bergische University Wuppertal (BUW), Germany. She was first a lecturer, then professor for Architectural Design and Theory at the UBA and later a lecturer for Theoretical Philosophy and Phenomenology at the BUW. As part of a DAAD scholarship, she has conducted research on the reception of the German Philosophical Anthropology in Argentina. She is presently working on mentioned research subject, with the support of the BUW. Cf: https://uni-wuppertal.academia.edu/IreneBreuer.