Return To The Origin Of Significance

In this article, the author discusses the difference between aesthetics and the artistic thoughts of Heidegger. By explaining the "experience" character of traditional aesthetics, the author points out that the experience aesthetics has it's own original ground, that is, man's being-in-the-world and the genuine relation between human being and things. So the task of this article is to interpret the inherent relation between Heidegger's genuine existence theory and his criticisms of the traditional aesthetics. By doing these, the author wants to argue that Heidegger's aim is to make man's genuine existence be in accord with the truth of art and beauty, and at last, the original being form of art must become man's genuine existent mode. Following the road of Heidegger's thoughts, this thesis consists of three parts:In the first part, the author interprets the meaning and its history of traditional experience aesthetics. Heidegger thinks that it is an essential mark of modern time that artwork becomes an object of experience. The traditional aesthetics which is based on the experience makes human being return to his inner conditions and sever his connection with things, at last, the value and significance of any thing must be decided by this kind of experience, in another words, things must be connected with an aesthetic subject. Through penetrating insight into the essence of aesthetic experience, Heidegger finds out the mode of traditional aesthetics-the pattern of contradiction between subject and object which is based on the modern conscious philosophy, so the author thinks that the prosperity of experience aesthetics is coupled with the emergence of this pattern (subject-object).In the second part, the author introduces the main procedure that Heidegger de-constructs the traditional aesthetics' pattern of subject-object. Heidegger proves that world is not a substance or a pure and sample object which stands in front of human being. If viewed from the standpoint of "ontological difference" theory, world must be accepted as a struggle between the presence and absence which includes the particular relation between man and things. We can see that world is not always thepure emergence (openness), on the other hand, there is an essential submergence which Heidegger calls "earth" in it. Earth opens itself partly and refuses to emerge absolutely. By seeking the original relation between world and earth, Heidegger proves that there is not a pure and sample object, things must be regarded as an essential part in our existence.The author inquires further into the original ground of art work in the third part. Heidegger regards art work as a genuine field which exposes the original relation between man and things. In this particular playing field, things and man co-exist and things which reveal their genuine being can not be treated as strange objects. In fact, art work exposes the genuine mode of things' being and let every thing be itself (let things free). By means of the light of art work, the existent truth that man and things come from the same original ground is revealed to us. Finally, the right form of treating art work is to reform our human being's existence whenever we are threw to the shocking power of the art work. Now we can see that this form already transforms Heidegger's principle of art work into existent principle of man's being-in-the-world, which asks human being to find ("build") a right place among all the things.