Irrationalism and Aestheticism

The phenomenon of irrationalism[?] and aestheticism was a reaction against positivism from which symbolism and existentialism came. These phenomena opposed the rationality of human beings[?] and concentrated on Kant's "noumenal realm[?]" while claiming science to be inferior to intuition. Art had emerged as the gateway to the "noumenal[?]," unfortunately, the working class was not involved in this movement and only elitism -- a "Mandarin elitism[?]" -- had access to the art.