About the methodology of aesthetics

Aesthetics is a special area of philosophy and science, where many questions arise, primarily methodological ones. Controversial issues of the methodology of aesthetics were considered in the New Time by outstanding philosophers. On this basis, the authors explore the limits of the possibilities of aesthetic methodology, the main provisions and conclusions of the preliminary consideration of the problem. The authors formulate the contours of the methodology of aesthetics, which boil down to identifying its boundaries and basic principles. The methodology should be synthetic, including different methods and approaches that are not combined all at once, but are used separately in certain circumstances for specific tasks. However, they can constitute separate stages of ascent to the solution of the problem under consideration, or be within the boundaries in which their own separate method is used. Nevertheless, these methods constitute a single whole, due to the consonance of rhythms, their general synergy. Of great importance can be the two-chambered methodological approach, which should separate the creative process and the essential core of the work from its research and interpretation. The latter can be both rational and based on various forms of «empathy», compassion, use the developed approaches and techniques of hermeneutics and phenomenology. The key problem in aesthetic methodology is the problem of aesthetic value, which should be considered as based on a set of rhythms that link the methods used into a single whole. They correspond to various rhythms based on the «interval method» of the humanities (each interval has its own approach). This also corresponds to the relative value of individual works, which can weaken or increase over time. 

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