Cognition and Emotion:The Dualistic Dilemma of Expressionist Aesthetics and Its Solution
Expressionists such as Croce,Collingwood and Bausanquet generally regard"the expression of emotion"as the standard of defining art,but ignore the status and role of cognition.The main reason is that,under the influence of Kant's dualistic philosophy,they tend to look for the basis of art in the structure of human mind,and fail to find the original connection between emotion and thinking,and fail to understand the nature of emotion and its role and embodiment in expression.By carefully reading and analyzing Dewey's theory of expression,we can find that what art should express is neither emotion nor cognition,but an experience and its meanings.Emotion is not a kind of substantial existence,but a kind of concomitant state in which one is engaged in some experiential activities.So,emotion cannot be the object of expression alone,but it plays a role in organizing experiential materials and making them into an organism in the activity of expression.Cognition also occurs in experiential activities.Although cognition can be expressed separately,it is not the focus of art.But in the expression of an experience and its meanings,both emotion and thinking can be represented.Moreover,the maturity and value of thinking in art is not inferior to philosophy and other types of thinking.Moreover,the factor of cognition is also very necessary for the quality of art.Michael Polanyi's theory of tacit knowledge can provide indirect evidence for this.And all of these can provide a solution to the dualistic conflict between emotion and thinking in the aesthetics of expression theory.
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