Liking Without Wanting

Kant noticed that two kinds of liking feel different. I like a warm pastry, and the liking comes with a wish: to eat it. I like a useful tool, and the liking comes with a plan: to use it. Both are tied to something I want from the thing.

Delight in beauty is of another sort. Standing before a sunset, I enjoy it without wanting to own it, eat it or use it. Kant called this pleasure disinterested: it is not bound to a wish. That is also why I expect others to feel it too, since it does not depend on my private appetite.

The test is easy to try. Ask what you want from the thing. If the answer is nothing beyond looking, you are probably enjoying it as beauty.

The gallery and the bakery

Lin walks past a bakery, smells fresh bread and at once wants a loaf. The pleasure comes with a wish, and it fades when she has eaten.

An hour later she stands in a gallery before a quiet seascape. She does not want to buy it or take it home. She simply looks, and is content to keep looking. When a friend arrives, she says, “Come and see,” as if he ought to feel it too.

Try this today Next time something strikes you as beautiful, ask whether you want anything from it, and write the answer.