The impact of aesthetic theory on the experience of art

The text discusses the relationship between aesthetic theory and aesthetic experience - the way in which aesthetic theory influences the aesthetic experience. The central thesis of the text is that aesthetic theory has the power to enhance the act of aesthetic reception, that is, the experience of a work of art. By analyzing the significance of one of the key concepts of phenomenological aesthetics - the concept of so-called essential truth - the author, through the lens of this concept, examines the philosophical aspects of several literary works and concludes that thanks to the concept of essential truth, metaphysical qualities (as defined in Roman Ingarden’s phenomenological theory) crystallize within the literary work. Furthermore, the theoretical understanding of this concept profoundly deepens the very experience of the work of art.