Empirical Aesthetics – Aesthetics from Below?

Thursday 9 Jul 2026, 18:30 → 20:00 Europe/Berlin

ArtLab Foyer (Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik)

The Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt investigates how and why people experience art, thereby following (not exclusively, but to a considerable extent) an aesthetic “from below,” as Gustav Theodor Fechner coined it in the Vorschule der Ästhetik. This means that theoretical aesthetic concepts are derived from the actual aesthetic experiences of study participants. Of course, the risk of reducing aesthetic experience to mere measurements must always be critically considered; in addition, the insights gained must be discussed against the backdrop of the findings of philosophical aesthetics. The lecture explains the further development of Fechner's aesthetics “from below” at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics beyond classical laboratory approaches. Particular attention is paid to research approaches that capture aesthetic experience in both controlled and real, everyday situations. Finally, we discuss how the development of methods at the MPI Frankfurt can further strengthen it as a center of research and culture.

The lecture will be held in English.

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