Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Le système de l’immunité innée cérébrale module le fonctionnement du cerveau et les processus comportementaux tout au long de la vie d'un individu. Parmi les différents protagonistes de ce système de l'immunité innée cérébrale, les cellules gliales jouent un rôle majeur notamment en régulant la synthèse de facteurs inflammatoires tels que les cytokines. Ces dernières, outre leur rôle dans la coordination de l'action des différents partenaires cellulaires de ce système, modifient l'activité neuronale. Lors d'un épisode inflammatoire, le système de l'immunité innée s'active et l'ensemble des signaux mis en place par les processus immunitaires est regroupé sous le terme de neuroinflammation. Plus particulièrement, les cytokines proinflammatoires et l’ATP libérés dans ce cadre ont été décrits comme étant capables de moduler la plasticité synaptique d'une part et les capacités d’apprentissages et de mémorisation d'autre part. Cependant, la compréhension de l’impact d’un épisode inflammatoire sur le système nerveux central et les capacités d’apprentissage n’est pas totale. Une cible potentielle de ces facteurs est le système de neurotransmission glutamatergique. En effet, les facteurs proinflammatoires peuvent augmenter ou diminuer l’expression ou l’activité de certaines sous-unités des récepteurs glutamatergiques. Mon objectif a été de déterminer dans quelle mesure la transmission glutamatergique est altérée en condition neuroinflammatoire et comment cela pouvait induire des altérations des capacités d’apprentissage chez le rongeur. Pour cela nous avons choisi comme tâche comportementale l’aversion gustative conditionnée, dont les mécanismes moléculaires nécessaire à sa mise en place sont connus et reposent sur la transmission glutamatergique dans une structure corticale particulière chez les rongeurs: le cortex insulaire. Notre étude visait à déterminer les mécanismes cellulaires et moléculaires par lesquels une inflammation localisée à ce cortex peut induire des modifications comportementales et biochimiques. Nous avons pu montrer que l’infusion de lipopolysaccharide, un puissant agent inflammatoire, dans le cortex insulaire induisait une augmentation de l'aversion conditionnée. Ceci était corrélé à une augmentation d’expression des récepteurs AMPA au glutamate dans cette structure, plus particulièrement dans le compartiment synaptique. Nous avons également pu montrer que l’infusion de LPS dans le cortex insulaire induisait la synthèse et la libération de cytokines proinflammatoires localement, sans stimuler le système de l’immunité périphérique. Même si ces cytokines sont connues comme étant des agents modulateurs de la neurotransmission glutamatergique, leur infusion dans le cortex insulaire n’a pas reproduit dans notre cas les effets de l’infusion du LPS. Par contre, nous avons montré que l’ATP était impliqué dans les effets du LPS sur l’apprentissage aversif, puisque le blocage des récepteurs purinergiques dans le cortex insulaire a permis de reverser les effets du LPS sur l’acquisition de l’aversion gustative. En conclusion, nos résultats suggèrent qu'une inflammation localisée dans le cortex insulaire conduit à la libération et à l'action d’ATP sur les cellules gliales et/ou neuronales, aboutissant à une hausse de l’acquisition de l’aversion gustative conditionnée. / The cerebral innate immune system is activated under pathophysiological conditions and can consequently modulate brain functioning and cognitive processes. This modulation is exerted by signals produced by immune-like processes grouped under the term of neuroinflammation and involving neuro-glial communication within the brain. In particular, proinflammatory cytokines and ATP, all produced during this immune system activation have been directly linked to modulation of synaptic plasticity and/or learning and memory functions in animals models. However, the cellular mechanisms by which neuroinflammation modulates neural plasticity and cognitive processes are still unclear. One candidate is the glutamatergic system. Indeed, pro-inflammatory factors can increase or decrease glutamatergic receptors expression and/or activity. Our study was dedicated at deciphering to what extent glutamatergic transmission is altered under neuroinflammation and how this may lead to learning and memory alteration. To this aim, we used the conditioned taste aversion, a task highly dependent on glutamatergic transmission into the insular cortex. Indeed, blockade of NMDA or AMPA receptors in this cortical area before acquisition greatly impairs conditioned taste aversion. The aim of our study was thus to investigate the behavioral and cellular impact of an inflammation restricted to the insular cortex on glutamatergic receptors expression and CTA memory formation. Here we show that a cortical inflammation, induced by LPS infusion into the insular cortex, prior to CTA acquisition enhances the aversion strength presumably through LPS-induced increase of glutamatergic AMPA, but not NMDA, receptor expression/trafficking at the insular synapses. Moreover, we show that ATP release, but not pro-inflammatory cytokines, is responsible for LPS-induced CTA enhancement. In conclusion we propose that inflammation restricted to the insular cortex enhances CTA acquisition through an ATP-dependent mechanism presumably involving an increase of glutamatergic AMPA receptor expression at the neuronal synapses.

Cette recherche repose sur l’interrogation suivante : qu’est-ce qui fait être amateur d’art contemporain ? Les amateurs d’art contemporain constituent un public envers lequel les études, même si elles sont porteuses d’indications utiles, sont peu nombreuses. On constate que la plupart des études présentent un profil qui rend compte du caractère solitaire, assidu, souvent diplômé du visiteur amateur d’art contemporain et de son comportement peu interactif. Nous savons ainsi très peu de choses sur ce rapport qui pourtant est souvent à la source de débat important sur l’art contemporain et notamment sur la question de l’accessibilité. Partant de la définition pragmatique, selon laquelle l’amateur est celui qui entretient un rapport suivi quels qu’en soient les médiums ou les modalités, notre recherche consiste à se démarquer d’une méthode quantitative qui se délimiterait à une pratique, à un type de public et à un seul lieu. Cette recherche repose sur une méthode qualitative dont l’objectif est de reconsidérer l’amateurisme en art à travers l’analyse d’entretiens. La position communicationnelle permet d’analyser ce rapport sous un rapport pluriel à l’objet. L’amateurisme est ainsi étudié, en dépassant d’une part le rapport sujet/objet, décrit et analysé par la philosophie esthétique, mais aussi la relation objet /système sur laquelle reposent de nombreuses études sociologiques, centrées sur le système des mondes de l’art. Dans cette optique nous avons cherché à observer cette pratique en mettant en lumière son caractère construit. En témoigne notamment les activités formelles, mais aussi celles issues des expériences anecdotiques et circonstancielles, liées à des processus d’appréhension qui révèlent la spécificité de cet attachement pour l’objet d’art et d’un goût toujours en exercice / This research rests on the principal interrogation: what makes contemporary art lover ? There is not a lot of studies on the practices of the art contemporary lovers. The art contemporary lovers constitute a public towards which the studies are very few but carrying useful indications. Most of the studies present a profile which presents the art contemporary lovers as a solitary character, assiduous, often graduate and not having a very interactive behaviour. On the basis of the pragmatic definition, according to which the amateur is someone who maintains, whatever are the mediums, a followed relation, our research consists in being dissociated from a quantitative method which would delimited too much a practice, a type of public and a place. In this purpose practices and specific posture in contemporary art are considerate differently. The discipline of communication makes able to analyse this practice by according a plural relation. The object of this research is too analyse different practices through a passion for contemporary art and to reconsider an experiment, not only according to a relation as subject/object, study by the aesthetic, but not also to a relation place/object, like in the sociologies research which analyse the worlds of art Accordingly, the purpose is to revaluate the taste like a construct movement. The lover’s formal and non formal practices demonstrate the presence of procedures revealing the specificity of this attachment and of a taste which is always in exercise

La thèse focalise sur les processus de découverte musicale. Deux ordres de questions guident la thèse. Le premier porte sur le processus de découverte lui-même. Le second aborde les genres découverts, les règles gustatives et les modalités de l’ouverture des répertoires. En conclusion, l’origine sociale joue un rôle important dans les processus de découverte jusqu’à la fin du lycée tandis que l’accès aux études supérieures en infléchit l’effet. Les combinaisons des types de liens sociaux avec les différentes formes d’homophilie au sein des relations sont également décisives mais n’ont pas toujours les mêmes effets. L’usage des multiples dispositifs d’accès à la musique constituent des moyens privilégiés de découverte qui médiatisent les règles que les individus réinvestissent ensuite. Il semble enfin que l’ouverture des répertoires de goûts musicaux ne résulte pas d’une discussion sur les règles qui les fondent mais s’effectue la plupart du temps dans et par la pratique. / The thesis focuses on the processes of musical discovery. Two sets of questions guide the thesis. The first is about the discovery process itself. The second deals with the genres discovered, the taste rules and the modalities of the opening of repertoires. In conclusion, social origin plays an important role in the processes of discovery up to the end of high school, while the access to higher education modifies the effect. The combinations of the types of social ties with the different forms of homophilia within relationships are also decisive but do not always have the same effects. The use of multiple access devices to music is a privileged means of discovery that mediates the rules that individuals then reinvest. Finally, it seems that the opening of the repertoires of musical tastes is not the result of a discussion of the rules on which they are based, but is mostly done in and by practice.

Trata-se de investigar a posição de Hume no debate travado no século XVIII acerca do problema do gosto. A questão do gosto encontra-se difusa em boa parte da obra do filósofo escocês, mas é no ensaio Do Padrão do Gosto (1757) que Hume se detém no estudo do modo pelo qual os homens elaboram padrões ao fazerem julgamentos estéticos. Neste ensaio - objeto central desta dissertação -, Hume assinala a extrema variedade de gostos que há no mundo e nota que tanto a beleza quanto a deformidade dependem de como cada um as sente. Assim, nada poderia ser dito feio ou belo, imperando o completo relativismo estético. A pesquisa pretende analisar as articulações por meio das quais Hume resolve essa ameaça cética que paira sobre a crítica do gosto. / The following dissertation is an investigation of the position of David Hume concerning the question of taste in the 18th century. The issue of taste is widespread in much of the Scottish philosopher\'s works, but particularly in his essay Of the Standard of Taste (1757) he studies the way in which people elaborate patterns to make aesthetic judgments. In the essay the object of this dissertation Hume notes the great variety of tastes which prevails in the world and he also notes that the concepts of beauty and deformity depend on how each of them is experienced. Therefore, nothing can be said to be ugly or beautiful, according to this aesthetic relativism. This paper will examine the arguments Hume articulates in addressing and resolving the threat this skepticism poses to the notion of taste and to the possibility of art criticism.

A presente pesquisa contempla a teoria e a prática da música instrumental do século XVIII, sobretudo na Inglaterra, sob o ponto de vista da obra teórica do violinista, compositor e tratadista italiano Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762). O trabalho objetiva comentar e traduzir - pela primeira vez em língua portuguesa - a integral da obra teórica desse autor: Rules for Playing in a True Taste (c.1748), A Treatise of Good Taste in the Art of Musick (1749), The Art of Playing on the Violin (1751), The Art of Accompaniament (1756/7), Guida Armonica (1756/8), The Harmonical Miscellany (1758) e The Art of Playing the Guitar or Cittra (1760). A escolha de Geminiani se deve ao fato de seus sete escritos se alinharem a importantes preceptistas filosóficos, como Batteux, Montesquieu e Hume, e musicais, como Quantz, C. P. E. Bach e L. Mozart. Além disso, dissertam sobre aspectos importantes da música setecentista sob os pontos de vista prático (como a performance em instrumentos como violino, violoncelo, cravo - com ênfase no baixo contínuo -, cistre e traverso) e teórico (com discussões sobre o ensino e o aprendizado de harmonia, além de discutir, em toda sua obra, o conceito de bom gosto em música). As análises e estudos oferecidos em forma de comentários, bem como as traduções aqui presentes não só permitirão o leitor atual a observar a obra de Geminiani inserida em seu contexto histórico-filosófico-musical adequado, mas também fornecerão ferramentas importantes para pesquisas posteriores sobre o tratadista e a música do século XVIII. / The current study addresses the theory and practice of instrumental music of the eighteenth century, especially in England, from the perspective of the theoretical work of the Italian violinist, composer, and writer Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762). The aim of the present study was to comment and translate - for the first time into the Portuguese language - the complete theoretical works by this author: Rules for Playing in a True Taste (c. 1748), A Treatise of Good Taste in the Art of Musick (1749), The Art of Playing on the Violin (1751), The Art of Accompaniment (1756/7), Guida Armonica (1756/8), The Harmonical Miscellany (1758), and The Art of Playing the Guitar or Cittra (1760). Geminiani was chosen because his seven written works are aligned with important preceptists of philosophy, such as Batteux, Montesquieu, and Hume, and of music, such as Quantz, C. P. E. Bach, and L. Mozart. In addition, the discourse about important practical elements (the playing of instruments such as the violin, cello, or harpsichord - with an emphasis on basso continuo -, cittern, and traverso) and theoretical aspects (including discussions about teaching and learning harmony, and the concept of good musical taste) of eighteenth century music. The analyses and studies, provided as comments, and the translations in the present study will not only allow current readers to view Geminiani\'s work within its adequate historical-philosophical-musical context, but will also provide important tools for subsequent studies on Geminiani and the music of the eighteenth century.

Este trabalho busca os possíveis fatores que contribuem para o sucesso na disciplina de Matemática na Escola Básica. Por meio da metodologia de entrevistas recorrentes, procurou-se investigar/analisar as histórias da vida escolar de três sujeitos de pesquisa, alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio, bem sucedidos em Matemática. Por meio de seus relatos iniciais e das sucessivas entrevistas, com interação entre cada um deles e a pesquisadora, detalhes importantes a respeito das possíveis razões de sucesso surgiram e fatores expressivos constituíram-se. Esses entrevistados relataram que seu gosto e sucesso na disciplina de Matemática eram provenientes de um constante instigar, desde que eram muito pequenos, por parte de seus familiares, na figura do pai, da mãe ou de algum irmão mais velho. Relatos sobre jogos e brincadeiras também surgiram como fatores que possibilitariam tanto o gosto quanto o sucesso na disciplina; adicionalmente, a relação professor-aluno e as atitudes do professor em sala de aula foram citadas como fatores relevantes. A fundamentação da pesquisa está baseada, principalmente, nas teorias de Vygotsky, para o qual o papel das interações sociais é indispensável para a construção do conhecimento e ocorre por meio da mediação, e em Wallon, para quem a função social das emoções e o papel da afetividade são decisivos para o desenvolvimento da criança. / This thesis aims to identify some factors that contribute to success in the field of mathematics at the Basic School. Using the methodology of recurrent interviews, the author investigated/analyzed the school life stories of three third year high school students who are successful in mathematics. Based on these students initial impressions over their experiences and after many interviews, it was possible to gather some information regarding possible reasons for success in mathematics. They declared that their taste for mathematics and their success in the field came from constant instigation since early age of their close relatives (father, mother or older brother). Games, the relationship with teachers, and the students behavior in the classroom also came up as important factors for this success. The research is strongly based on Vygotskys theories, which state that social interactions are essential in the construction of knowledge, as well as on Wallons, which considers emotions and affections decisive in the development of the child.

As alterações do paladar durante o transplante de células tronco hematopoiéticas (TCTH) são frequentemente descritas em períodos após a finalização do transplante, porém pouco se conhece sobre quais sabores e que tipo de alterações de percepção são vivenciadas pelos pacientes durante o transplante. O objetivo deste trabalho foi caracterizar as alterações do paladar e de despapilação presentes no período de neutropenia do TCTH, bem como verificar se há associação entre essas alterações e variáveis clínicas relacionadas ao transplante e à toxicidade na mucosa oral. Também se avaliou o impacto das alterações do paladar e da mucosa oral na qualidade de vida dos pacientes. Foram selecionados 52 pacientes de TCTH autólogo e alogênico, que realizaram testes de acuidade do paladar antes do condicionamento e durante a neutropenia. Os pacientes foram ainda submetidos a oroscopia para avaliação de mucosite oral e despapilação no dorso da língua. Foi também realizado inquérito quanto a xerostomia e a alterações no paladar. Foi realizado teste de acuidade na percepção dos sabores doce, amargo, azedo e salgado, ofertados em soluções contendo concentrações baixas e altas de substâncias estimuladoras desses sabores. A qualidade de vida foi avaliada pelo questionário EORTC QLQ-C30 e QLQ-H&N35. Detectou-se que os 46,1% dos pacientes exibiram alterações do paladar antes do condicionamento do TCTH, mas que essa frequência aumentou para 90,5% durante a neutropenia (teste do c2, p=0.042). O tipo de alteração mais comum foi a hipogeusia dos sabores de concentração mais forte, principalmente do amargo. Alta frequência de pacientes (72,0%) foi detectada exibindo despapilação no período de neutropenia, porém essa despapilação não foi associada às alterações de percepção de cada tipo de sabor. Não houve associação entre alterações do paladar e tipo de transplante, tipo de condicionamento e variáveis relacionadas à toxicidade na cavidade oral e no trato gastrointestinal. Houve associação significativa entre despapilação e duração da mucosite oral >=8 dias (OR= 5,62, IC95% = 0,98-60,30, p=0.039). As alterações salivares e do paladar reduziram significativamente na qualidade de vida durante a neutropenia em comparação ao período que antecedeu o condicionamento. Concluiu-se que as alterações do paladar já estão presentes antes do TCTH, mas há aumento da frequência dessas alterações, principalmente de hipogeusia. A despapilação na língua ocorreu após o condicionamento, e foi associada a maior tempo de duração da mucosite oral. O impacto das alterações salivares e do paladar na qualidade de vida do paciente durante a neutropenia é alto e devem ser minimizados mediante a adoção de estratégias mais abrangentes, que incluam manutenção da integridade da mucosa oral. / Taste changes during hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) are often described after the end of transplantation, however little is known about which flavors and what type of perception changes are experienced by patients during transplantation. The aim of this study was to characterize the taste alterations and taste buds atrophy present in the period of neutropenia of HCT, as well as to verify if there is association between these alterations and clinical variables related to transplant and oral mucosal toxicity. The impact of taste and oral mucosal changes on patients\' quality of life was also evaluated. We selected 52 patients undergoing autologous and allogenic HCT, who underwent taste acuity tests prior to conditioning and during neutropenia. Patients were also submitted to oroscopy for evaluation of oral mucositis and taste buds atrophy. An investigation was also conducted on xerostomia and taste changes. It was carried out an acuity test in the perception of sweet, bitter, sour and salty flavors, offered in solutions containing low and high concentrations of substances stimulating these flavors. Quality of life was assessed by the EORTC questionnaire QLQ-C30 and QLQ-H & N35. It was found that 46.1% of the patients exhibited taste alterations before the conditioning of the HCT, but that this frequency increased to 90.5% during neutropenia (c2 test, p = 0.042). The most common alteration was the hypogeusia of the strongest concentrations, especially bitter. High frequency of patients (72.0%) were detected with taste buds atrophy in the period of neutropenia, but this taste buds atrophy was not associated with alterations in the perception of each type of taste. There was no association between changes in taste and type of transplant, type of conditioning, and variables related to toxicity in the oral cavity and in the gastrointestinal tract. There was a significant association between taste buds atrophy and oral mucositis duration >=8 days (OR = 5.62, 95% CI = 0.98-60.30, p = 0.039). Salivary and taste changes significantly reduced quality of life during neutropenia compared to the pre-condition period. It was concluded that taste alterations are already present before HCT, but there is an increase in the frequency of these alterations, mainly hypogeusia. The tongue taste buds atrophy occurred after conditioning, and was associated with a longer duration of oral mucositis. The impact of salivary and taste changes on patient quality of life during neutropenia is high and should be minimized through the adoption of more comprehensive strategies that include maintenance of oral mucosal integrity.

É consenso entre enólogos que o glicerol contribui para o corpo e sabor adocicado dos vinhos, por analogia, propôs-se investigar a presença e o papel do glicerol em aguardentes de cana. O método adaptado para a quantificação de glicerol, que envolveu a derivatização das amostras com cloreto de benzoíla, uma posterior etapa de extração em fase sólida (SPE) para clean-up das amostras e análise via HPLC-DAD, apresentou boa sensibilidade (limites de detecção e quantificação iguais a 0,25 e 0,74 mg L-1, respectivamente), exatidão de 97,5 % e precisão de 93,5 %. A reação de derivatização entre glicerol e o cloreto de benzoíla, estudada por cromatografia líquida hifenada a espectrometria de massas, foi quantitativa com esterificação das três hidroxilas da molécula. Antes de se avaliar a influência do glicerol no sabor doce da cachaça, as concentrações de açúcares totais foram medidas empregando-se o método DNS (limites de detecção e quantificação iguais a 37 e 125 mg L-1, respectivamente). Verificou-se que não houve uma relação entre os teores de glicerol e açúcares totais com a nota doce, determinada a partir de análise sensorial das amostras, para o conjunto de amostras não adoçado. Com base em um teste triangular não houve diferença sensorial significativa entre uma cachaça sem glicerol e outra com glicerol numa concentração de até 35 g L-1. A mediana do teor de glicerol detectado em 51 amostras de cachaça foi de 4,3 mg L-1. A mediana dos teores de açúcares totais para 59 amostras de cachaça não adoçada foi abaixo do limite de quantificação. A mediana dos teores de açúcares totais para 8 amostras de cachaça adoçada foi de 17 g L-1, expressos em glicose. / There is a consensus among enologists that glycerol contributes to the body and sweet taste of wine, by analogy; it was proposed to investigate the presence and role of glycerol in sugar cane spirits. The adapted method for glycerol quantification, which involved the samples derivatization with benzoyl chloride, a further solid phase extraction (SPE) step for samples clean-up and analysis by HPLC-DAD showed good sensitivity (limits of detection and quantification of 0.25 and 0.74 mg L-1, respectively), 97.5 % of accuracy and 93.5 % of precision. The derivatization reaction between glycerol and benzoyl chloride, studied through liquid chromatography hyphenated to mass spectrometry, was quantitative with esterification of the three hydroxyls of the molecule. Before evaluating the influence of glycerol in cachaça\'s sweet taste, total sugar concentrations were measured by DNS method (limits of detection and quantification were 37 and 125 mg L-1, respectively). It was verified that there was no correlation between the contents of glycerol and total sugars with the sweet score, determined by the samples sensory analysis, to the samples which no sugar was added. Based on a triangular test, there was no significant sensory difference between a cachaça without glycerol and another with glycerol concentration up to 35 g L-1. The median glycerol concentration detected in 51 samples of cachaça was 4.3 mg L-1. The median level of total sugars for 59 samples of cachaça without sugar addition was below the limit of quantification. The median level of total sugar for 8 samples of cachaça with sugar addition was 17 g L-1, expressed as glucose.

A Crítica do Juízo surgiu sobretudo devido a uma necessidade sistemática da filosofia de Kant, a saber, a de tornar possível uma passagem entre o mundo da natureza e o mundo da liberdade. Contudo, ela tornou-se uma obra fundamental para a estética, na qual a noção de forma é a crucial para que se compreenda tanto a criação artística como a recepção estética, pois tal noção constitui, para Kant, o fundamento de toda disposição para o gosto. Trata-se aqui de investigar a noção de forma a partir dos diferentes aspectos que ela assume ao longo da Crítica do Juízo, uma vez que aquilo que passou a ser denominado pela crítica de arte moderna e contemporânea como um formalismo de inspiração kantiana parece desconsiderar a real complexidade de tal noção. Tendo em vista mostrar que a forma, para Kant, não é meramente uma estrutura espaço temporal, mas implica a expressão de um conteúdo, a tese foi estruturada em quatro capítulos. O primeiro capítulo é dedicado à análise da relação entre forma e reflexão, relação esta que exige um exame da oposição entre forma e matéria da sensação, bem como da noção de forma da finalidade. O segundo capítulo volta-se para a especificidade da bela-arte e envolve a comparação entre o belo natural e o belo artístico, o problema da distinção entre beleza livre e beleza aderente e a teoria do gênio. O terceiro capítulo trata do problema da convivência entre forma e conteúdo na obra de arte em virtude da teoria das Idéias estéticas e da afirmação do belo como símbolo do bem.O quarto capítulo analisa a influência do pensamento de Kant na teoria de Greenberg. / The Critique of Judgment arose above all due to a systematic necessity in Kant\'s philosophy, namely to make a passage between the world of nature and the world of liberty possible. Nevertheless, it became a fundamental work for aesthetics, in which the notion of form is crucial as much to the understanding of artistic creation as to aesthetic reception, since such a notion constituted for Kant, the basis of any disposition to taste. In this paper it is sought to investigate the notion of form beginning from the different aspects which it assumes throughout the Critique of Judgment, since what has come to be termed in modern and contemporary art criticism as Kantian inspired formalism appears to ignore the true complexity of such a notion. Bearing in mind that for Kant, form is not merely a time space structure but implies the expressio n of content, the thesis was structured in four chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to the analysis of the relationship between form and reflection, which demands an examination of the opposition between form and the subject matter, as well as the notion of the form of finality. The second chapter is concerned with the specificity of fine art and involves the comparison between natural and artistic beauty, the problem of the distinction between free beauty and adherent beauty and the theory of genius. The third treats the problem of the co-existence between form and content in art work in virtue of the theory of aesthetic Ideals and the affirmation of beauty as a symbol of good. The fourth chapter analyzes the influence of Kant\'s thought on Greenberg\'s theory.