ABSTRACT
The Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment and much (post)modern thinking ransacked any notion that art was able to serve religious purposes seriously. Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Judgement suggests that aesthetics should not be underestimated as one of the surest ways of getting to ‘know’ God. If Kant suggests human beings have the potential to secure a transcendental experience depending on the extent of individuals’ disinterestedness, than Arthur Schopenhauer extends this notion by suggesting that Art invites individuals into a space where they may lose themselves and find peace. For Heidegger, the question of Being is central to his philosophy. Tolstoy offered an original and morally grounded theory of art. Tolstoy believed that much of the Art produced during his time produced feelings of pride, wanton sexual desire and the worthlessness of life. The contemporary philosophical theologian William Desmond discusses the problems associated with modernity's reductionist self-determination in relation to aesthetics and religion.
