Contemporary Perspectives on Susanne K. Langer's Concept of Mind

Aesthetic experience has been a persistent feature of human life, prompting philosophical questions about its nature and meaning. This article examines Susanne Langer's philosophical contributions to understanding aesthetic experience through a neuroscientific lens, focusing on her concept of the non-discursive realm of the mind. Langer's work, particularly her trilogy "Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling" and her earlier paper "The Deepening Mind," is discussed as a framework for neuroaesthetic inquiry. The article argues that Langer's account advances beyond John Dewey's, which is often cited as a milestone in neuroaesthetics' historical development.

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Abstract

The continual possibility of aesthetic experience throughout history has prompted philosophical reflections about its nature and meaning in human life. This article outlines some neuroscientific ways of understanding its functioning, focusing specifically on Susanne Langer’s contribution. Commonly subsumed under the heading ‘philosophy of mind’ – especially due to the trilogy Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling – Langer’s interests in the human mind developed already in the 1950s, as witnessed by the paper The Deepening Mind. A Half-Century of American Philosophy. Following these lines, the article discusses Langer’s philosophical approach from the perspective of a (neuro)aesthetic inquiry, emphasizing particularly the importance of the non-discursive realm of the mind. It also shows how Langer’s account might be seen as going beyond that of John Dewey, which is often referred to as an advancement in the historical development of neuroaesthetics.