Aesthetics Skill

Master the philosophy of beauty, art, and aesthetic experience: What is beauty? What is art? How do we judge aesthetic value?

Core Questions

Question Issue

What is beauty? Nature of aesthetic properties

What is art? Definition of art

What makes art good? Aesthetic value

Is taste subjective? Aesthetic judgment

What is aesthetic experience? Phenomenology of appreciation

Theories of Beauty

Objectivism vs. Subjectivism

Objectivism: Beauty is in the object

• Certain properties (proportion, harmony) constitute beauty

• Beauty is discoverable, not created

Subjectivism: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

• "Beautiful" reports a response, not a property

• De gustibus non est disputandum

Kant's Theory

KANTIAN AESTHETICS ══════════════════

AESTHETIC JUDGMENT ├── Disinterested: No desire for object's existence ├── Universal: Claims validity for all ├── Purposiveness without purpose └── Necessary: Demands agreement

BEAUTIFUL vs. SUBLIME ├── Beautiful: Form, bounded, harmony │ └── Pleasant contemplation └── Sublime: Formless, overwhelming, infinite └── Initial displeasure → pleasure in reason's power

FREE BEAUTY vs. DEPENDENT BEAUTY ├── Free: Pure aesthetic (flower, music) └── Dependent: Judged against concept (beautiful horse)

Theories of Art

Defining Art

Representationalism: Art represents/imitates reality

• Plato: Art copies appearances (third from truth)

• Problems: Abstract art, non-representational music

Expressionism: Art expresses emotions

• Tolstoy, Collingwood

• Art transmits feelings from artist to audience

• Problems: What counts as "expressing"?

Formalism: Art is significant form

• Clive Bell: Meaningful arrangement of elements

• Problems: What makes form "significant"?

Institutional Theory: Art is what the art world accepts

• Dickie: Artefact conferred status by art world

• Problems: Circular? Who decides?

Historical Definition: Art relates to previous art

• Levinson: Art intended for regard as prior art was

• Explains expanding category

Ontology of Art

What kind of thing is a work of art?

Type Artwork Example Ontology

Singular Painting Physical object

Multiple Novel Type (tokens are copies)

Performance Symphony Type (performances are instances)

Conceptual Idea art Concept itself

Aesthetic Experience

Characteristics

AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE ════════════════════

ATTENTION ├── Focused contemplation ├── Absorbing engagement └── Bracketing practical concerns

DISINTERESTEDNESS ├── Not desiring to possess ├── Not judging utility └── Pure appreciation

PLEASURE/DISPLEASURE ├── Immediate response ├── Not derived from concept └── Can include complex emotions

TRANSFORMATION ├── Changed perspective ├── Insight, revelation └── Expanded awareness

The Sublime

Burke: Terror at a safe distance produces sublime feeling Kant: Nature's power overwhelms senses, but reason transcends

Examples: Mountains, storms, vast spaces, tragedy

Philosophy of Specific Arts

Literature

• Narrative truth vs. literal truth

• Fiction and emotion (paradox of fiction)

• Interpretation and meaning

Music

• Absolute vs. program music

• Expression without representation

• Formalism (Hanslick) vs. expressionism

Visual Arts

• Representation and resemblance

• Photography as art?

• Conceptual art

Film

• Film as art vs. entertainment

• Medium specificity

• Authorship (auteur theory)

Aesthetic Value

Internalism vs. Externalism

Internalism: Value in aesthetic experience itself Externalism: Value in effects (moral, cognitive)

Art and Morality

Autonomism: Aesthetic and moral separate Moralism: Moral flaws are aesthetic flaws Moderate: Some interaction, not identity

Key Vocabulary

Term Meaning

Disinterested Without personal stake

Sublime Awesome, overwhelming beauty

Kitsch Cheap, sentimental art

Medium Material/technique of art form

Representation Depicting reality

Expression Conveying emotion

Form Structure, arrangement

Content Subject matter, meaning

Taste Capacity for aesthetic judgment

Genius Creative originality (Kant)

Integration with Repository

Related Themes

• thoughts/consciousness/ : Aesthetic experience

• thoughts/life_meaning/ : Art and meaning