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Abstract
Joseph Imorde’s essay places the aesthetics of empathy in the social context of Imperial Germany at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through the psychological responses stimulated by the aesthetics of empathy, the general public, unburdened by any specialist understanding of art history, was empowered to experience the emotions generated by art. In the realm of art appreciation, emotion was to replace reason and knowledge. This opening up of art to a broader audience enhanced, in turn, the development of self-awareness and self-worth within the petit bourgeoisie, whose members were given access to the triumphs of such great artists as Rembrandt, Michelangelo, and Grünewald. The success of empathy theory in Germany was linked, argues Imorde, to a particular Gemütsimperialismus (spiritual imperialism), which in contrast to decadent France or mercantile Britain, identified Germany as a land of the spirit; a land of musicians, poets, and philosophers.