aesthetics

| 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 |

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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

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KANTIAN AESTHETICS

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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)

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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 |

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Characteristics

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AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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| 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) |

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Related Themes

• thoughts/consciousness/: Aesthetic experience
• thoughts/life_meaning/: Art and meaning