THE OBSCURE DEPTH OF THE SOUL: BAUMGARTEN AND THE METAPHYSICAL FOUNDATIONS OF AESTHETICS

This article proposes a study about some philosophical reflections made by Alexander Baumgarten, in the context of the developments of Leibniz's scholastic rationalism.I will investigate the metaphysical theses, especially those that explain the structure of the sensible knowledge, the empirical psychology and the faculties of inferior gnosiology. In addition, we will see how Baumgarten takes up the classical theories of rhetoric and poetics to create his system of the arts, examining the role of the soul's perceptions in the production and contemplation of beauty.Finally, we will analyze how the baumgartian aesthetics synthesizes the metaphysical truths and the classical studies into a single philosophical discipline, by fostering a cultural education of spiritual elevation.