Comparative Aesthetics, Patuity, and Virtual Existence in Étienne Souriau

Abstract

We propose as a general research objective to expose the theoretical and practical foundations for the development of a philosophy of patuity in Étienne Souriau. For this, we will go through three specific objectives: i) we will review the general lineaments of the project of a comparative aesthetics in the philosophy of the French from a genetic perspective regarding the artistic phenomenon, ii) with this, we will evaluate the ontological scope of the project of a comparative aesthetics, appealing to the concepts of “instauration” and “patuity”, iii) finally, and as a synthesis of the above, we will propose an analysis regarding what Souriau will call virtual existence, understanding it as the engine of the instaurative process of the real.