Note 75 — Chapter XI · IMAGINATION

To the beginning of this period in Germany we owe the word aesthetic, which we take from the German philosopher Baumgarten’s use of ‘aesthetik’ to describe a “criticism of taste” considered as part of a complete philosophy. Needless to say, the word chosen (Greek ‘aisthētos’, ‘perceived by the senses’) bears a relation to the nature of Baumgarten’s theory.