ABSTRACT
G. W. F. Hegel identifies the notion of rational agency with the romantic form of art and with the prosaic secular and religious aspects of modernity. The problem of art and modernity comes most clearly into focus in considering how the content of secular conduct must be molded to fit the self-understanding expressed by romantic art. Hegel’s conceives the romantic form of art as the third and final mode of artistic construal, following upon what he calls the symbolic and classical artforms. The abiding role of corporeal existence must not be neglected in determining the romantic form. No physical environment and no dimension of the lives of individuals is either off limits or a privileged abode to the romantic artistic imagination. A configuration of conduct in a post-revolutionary setting more suitable for romanticism would be one in which rational agency champions the particular content of its inner subjectivity, irrespective of its situation within a world of existing institutions of freedom.
