Alois Riegl's Kunstwollen Theory with Kantian and Hegelian Sources: The foundation of aesthetics as a science of arts and art history as a philosophical science

This dissertation aims to open Alois Riegl's Kunstwollen-theory up for discussion along with the problem of its philosophical sources caused by contradictory interpretations in the history of reception, thereby determining the philosophical position, the meaning in the history of aesthetics, and the founding function in the science of art history, of this theory of art and art history, which has influenced many approaches in the field of Geisteswissenschaften in many ways. Riegl's reception history is largely dominated by early interpretations in which Kunstwollen-theory is understood as a Kantian on the one hand and a Hegelian on the other, and is often tried to be reduced to a single philosophical tendency. Riegl's ambition is to make respectable all artistic creations and the history of art as a discipline by founding art history as an autonomous science and to do this, first of all, to re-establish aesthetics as a rigorous science of arts. It is not surprising that the roots of an art theory developed in line with these aims are found in the philosophies of Kant and Hegel, as a rigorous research on Riegl's methodology, understanding of art and art-historical development and original terminology reveals. On the other hand, such a study will also reveal Riegl's effort to transcend precisely some Kantian and Hegelian assumptions to achieve these aims. However, since the essence of Riegl's theory is concealed by the detailed analysis of the artworks and style ages in his work, nearly every interpretation of Kunstwollen-theory has referenced earlier interpretations that seem more understandable than Riegl himself. This has led to gradually increasing disagreements about the meaning and philosophical position of the Kunstwollen-theory. For this reason, this study has undertaken the task of determining the philosophical position, the meaning in the history of aesthetics, and the founding function in the science of art history, of Riegl and Kunstwollen-theory, by introducing a new reading of the theory that takes into account Riegl's motivations to develop the Kunstwollen-theory in particular, and focuses directly on Riegl's works, thus enabling a critique of the current debate.