4 - Genius, Thick and Thin

Summary

Chapter 4 explores Kant’s theory of genius. The chapter avoids the well-discussed question about whether or why Kant denied that scientific activity requires or displays genius. It instead asks whether, in Kant’s view, genius can produce original nonsense. Is taste a component of genius, or does taste impose constraints on genius as if from the outside? The chapter maintains that Kant takes up two distinct conceptions of genius, the thin and the thick. Both conceptions can be found in Kant’s early thoughts about genius. When the two notions are retained in the third Critique, it creates internal tensions.