Hermann Cohen and the Aesthetic Debate of his Time

This paper examines Hermann Cohen’s position within the aesthetic debates of his time. It considers three distinct periods of Cohen’s intellectual production: 1865–1869, focusing on his essays in the field of Völkerpsychologie; 1888–1889, with primary reference to Kants Begründung der Ästhetik; and 1912–1918, focusing on Ästhetik des reinen Gefühls. Cohen’s perspectives on both classical and contemporary authors are analyzed, with particular emphasis on the influence of Friedrich Theodor Vischer, whose significance for Cohen’s aesthetic thought becomes especially evident through this examination.