Modernity Criticism of Aesthetic Education

Overview & Synopsis

Enlightenment modernity brings about the domination of industrialization, bureaucracy and instrumental rationality over the subject and its school life. At this time, the subject is like living in what Weber called the "iron cage" ruled by instrumental rationality. The worship of rational authority in education has reached such an extent that aesthetics characterized by perceptual enjoyment has been suppressed, denied and outlawed, which is embodied in the loss of transcendence of aesthetic education. Utilitarianism and entertainment are the main manifestations of the loss of transcendence in aesthetic education. Therefore, it is necessary to regain the transcendence of aesthetic education in three aspects: first, to redeem the rigid and bureaucratic school life through aesthetics, to save the "beautiful risk" of education dominated by instrumental rationality in education; second, to resist the one-sided development of human beings through aesthetic education, and to create unique and individualized personality traits by cultivating students' individualized aesthetic interest; Thirdly, we should resist the "standard answer" through the interpretation of the pluralistic meaning of works of art in aesthetic education.