Walter Pater
Walter Pater

A philosophy of sensations to play death

Summary/Abstract: Face à une vie brève, l’homme n’a d’autre alternative que de se donner un sursis par la quête de sensations et d’expériences nouvelles. La fugacité de l’existence ne peut être contenue autrement que par une vie intense. Pater propose de raffiner nos sens, tels des instruments de musiques pour approfondir nos sensations. La vie serait alors d’autant plus brève. Pater s’attache à la singularité de chaque impression à travers nos souvenirs. C’est par l’art avant tout qu’il nous atteignons à l’exaltation de la vie. Because of life’s brevity, men have to extend their short lives through new sensations and experiences. Living an intense life thus appears as the only solution to the transience of existence. In this respect, Pater offers to refine our senses just as music instruments would. Most of the sensations are lived without anyone noticing, generally because of ingrained habits and poor attention. For that reason, the life that we really live is shorter. According to Pater, it could be possible to focus on these forgotten sensations in order to enrich our life. Art would then be the best path to experimenting our sensations for themselves.

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