Aesthetic Consciousness in the Context of the Philosophy of Language

Abstract

The article is devoted to the understanding of aesthetic consciousness as a significant characteristic in the spir-itual values developing. As a complex formation in the world of artistic creativity, aesthetic consciousness is closely related to the philosophy of language as it is the language that shapes a person’s worldview colored by aesthetic experiences. Through the philosophy of language, the environment is transformed, and new mean-ings are created. Consequently, the concept of language as an attributive component of human and society’s spiritual life is associated with the understanding of the world and the aesthetic exploration of reality. The article substantiates L. Wittgenstein’s “language game” application and Charles S. Peirce’s semiotic theory to the so-cio-philosophical analysis of aesthetic consciousness. The authors argue with R. Shusterman who brought for-ward a concept rehabilitating the mass culture as a space of full-fledged aesthetic experience, and with W. Eco represented a thesis about the “limits of interpretation” as a sufficient limiter of semiosis. It is shown that aes-thetic consciousness is a form of social semiosis that is systematically distorted by closure mechanisms. The term of emancipatory semiosis is proposed as an analytical and normative perspective.