Research Centre for Aesthetics, Nature and Environment

Department of Aesthetics - ELTE Eötvös Loránd University

Research Centre for Aesthetics, Nature and Environment


Established at the Department of Aesthetics, the ELTE Eötvös Loránd University of Budapest, in 2020


The home institute of RCANE is one of the first Aesthetics departments in Europe. It was established by György Alajos (Georg Alois) Szerdahely in 1774, and it subsisted until 1932. In 1945, György (Georg) Lukács was appointed to the professorship of Aesthetics at the Philosophy department of ELTE. In 1973, the independent Department of Aesthetics was re-launched by Dénes Zoltai to gather and to shelter mostly Lukács's disciples.

RCANE is an initiative of Endre Szécsényi. Its main goal is to pursue profound research into the modern aesthetic theories written from the 17th century onwards in relation to environmental and everyday aesthetics, and to find or re-consider the theoretical potentials of these theories (including less- or hardly discussed ones) to contribute to and to advance the contemporary theoretical issues of the field.

H-1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 6-8. Hungary   |    tel./fax: (+36 1) 411 6570   |   e-mail: szecsenyi.endre@btk.elte.hu