The Ontological Approach to the Philosophical Meaning of Art: Gadamer and the African Perspective

The hermeneutic reflexivity of the work of art is intended to be a conscious approach to the inherence of its meaning. We propose to emphasise this in Hans-Georg Gadamer, who promotes an internalist approach to grasping the truth of the work of art. In fact, by countering the subjectivism of modern aesthetics, he recognises the autonomy of the work of art, which art theory, handicapped by an ontological approach, alienates. So he conceives of the work of art as an ontological event. This conception is shared by Fabien Éboussi Boulaga, who agrees with Hans-Georg Gadamer that art only makes sense as an actualisation of being. So we can say that the experience of the truth of art (Gadamer) or of the original 'feeling' of it (Éboussi Boulaga) translates its philosophical meaning from an ontological grasp of the meaning of the work of art.