Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.2, 2018

Zhu Guangqian’s Criticism on Kant-Croce Aesthetics in the Early Period: From The Psychology of Literature and Art to A Review of Croce’s Philosophy

(Abstract)

Zhang Yuhu

Zhu Guangqian’s earlier aesthetic thought is not constrained by KantCroce formalist aesthetics, but a process of reflection and criticism on KantCroce. In The Psychology of Literature and Art (1936), Zhu accepted the principle of aesthetic experience proposed by KantCroce but disagreed with Croce’s view of art. The core of the debate was the relationships connecting art, real life and society. He attempted to uncover the root of Croce’s wrong view of art but failed. In A Review of Croce’s Philosophy (1948), Zhu corrected the misunderstandings of Croce in The Psychology of Literature and Art, examined the root of Croce’s wrong view and broke the foundation of his idealist philosophy, and made a holistic examination of idealist philosophy finding that idealism’s attempt to break the dualism between mind and matter was a “disastrous defeat.” All this provided the basis for his turn to Marxist aesthetics.