Transcendentalism of Art in the Conceptions of Wilhelm Worringer and Theodor W. Adorno

Abstract

In applying the concept of de-coincidence to artistic creation, François Jullien speaks, among other things, of transcending imposed frameworks, established patterns and forms of communication. This evokes the modernist art theories of Wilhelm Worringer and Theodor W. Adorno, in which artistic practice takes on a transcendental character. Worringer, by introducing the distinction between abstraction and empathy, elevated art that is not bound to the imitation of reality, treating it as a manifestation of the creator’s inner tension in relation to the world. Adorno, in turn, in his aesthetic theory, emphasized that true art resists reification and dominant cognitive schemes, offering an experience that exceeds the established bounds of discursivity. Worringer’s art of abstraction and Adorno’s critical art can thus be seen as prefig-urations of Jullien’s de-coincidence. In the present article, we juxtapose Worringer’s theory with that of Adorno in order to highlight the parallels between them – parallels in which art emerges as an act of stepping beyond the horizon of routine experience of the world.