The Concept of Genius in Salomon Maimon’s Aesthetics

Abstract

Salomon Maimon is known to philosophy historians mainly as a critic and a follower of Immanuel Kant’s philosophy. Although the theory-cognitive issues dominate the studies on Maimon’s philosophical position, they do not exhaust the full potential of the rich writings of the philosopher. In Maimon’s extensive philosophical legacy of several dozen titles, one can also find treatises dedicated to aesthetic issues. In this article I seek to answer two questions: (1) Is the concept of genius presented in Maimon’s aesthetic writings – i.e. in Über die Ästhetik and above all in Das Genie und der methodische Erfinder – truly inspired solely by Kant’s philosophy? (2) Can the content of Maimon’s aesthetic writings as a whole be reduced to the issue of genius in science, as some authors seem to suggest?