Aesthetics in Religion: Remarks on Hermann Cohen’s Theory of Jewish Existence

My focus is here to connect Hermann Cohen’s "Aesthetics of the Pure Feeling" (1912) with his philosophy of religion. As has often been pointed out with respect to Cohen’s ethics, we must also assume close links between his religious philosophy and his aesthetics. The present paper focuses on two aspects: the question of compassion, closely linked to Cohen’s dramaturgy of tragic art, and the question of reconciliation, bound up with his theory of lyrics.