Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 6 Number 3, December 2005
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Kieran, Matthew, ed. Contemporary debates in aesthetics and the philosophy of art. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. xi, 370 p. ISBN 1-4051-0240-3 (paperback, 19.99 pounds); ISBN 1-4051-0239-X (hardback, 60.00 pounds).
Reviewed by
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
This interesting book, part of the Contemporary Debates in Philosophy series from Blackwell, examines various questions and challenges to the understanding and boundaries in aesthetics and the arts. Eleven questions are posed, with pairs of essays that attempt to answer the questions from dissimilar or opposing viewpoints. The editor, in his Introduction, explains that there are two ways to approach problems in aesthetics. The first begins with the objects, experiences, or practices themselves, and the questions that naturally arise from the examination of them. The second approach is more programmatic, geared towards intensive examination of the question itself from both inside and outside the profession. Both lead to interesting solutions, viewpoints, concerns, and realities. The editor sees the philosophical questions that arise in aesthetics, and these two approaches, clashing along four different vectors: metaphysics, epistemology, semantics, and pretheoretic phenomenology. This goes further towards a triad of aesthetics that succinctly illustrates the philosophy of art and the subject matter of aesthetics, all of which need to be considered: 1) the creator/conditions of creation, 2) the nature and identity of the aesthetic/art object, and 3) the appreciators/conditions of appreciation. With this extensive preface to the essays, the editor lets the authors have their say.
The first question “How are artistic experience and value interrelated” is examined by Gordon Graham and David Davies. Graham discusses the concept of artistic empiricism, and how fakes and ready-made artwork challenge this concept, while Davies provides the opposite viewpoint by detailing why he feels enlightened empiricism doesn’t work. The second question “In what does true beauty consist?” has two interesting essays that focus on beauty and ugliness in and out of context, and on terrible beauties, by Marcia Muelder Eaton and Carolyn Korsmeyer, respectively. Question 3 “What is the nature of aesthetic experience?” has Noel Carroll and Gary Iseminger looking at this topic from various perspectives. Berys Gaut and Peter Lamarque examine art and cognition in question 4 “Should we value works as art for what we can learn from them?” In question 5 “How do pictures represent?,” visual communication and the nature/domain of depiction are discussed by Robert Hopkins and Dominic McIver Lopes. “What constitutes artistic expression?” is looked at from the musical perspective by Stephen Davies and Jerrold Levinson, in question 6. Question 7 “In what ways is the imagination involved in engaging with artworks?” has Gregory Currie examining the works of Anne Bronte, while Jonathan M. Weinberg and Aaron Meskin point out the opposite side of this question. Rational and irrational emotions in response to fiction are encompassed in question 8 “Can emotional responses to fiction be genuine and rational?” by Tamar Szabo Gendler and Karson Kovakovich on the one hand, and by Derek Matravers on the other. Robert Stecker and Daniel O. Nathan provide opposing essays on question 9 “Is artistic intention relevant to the interpretation of artworks?” With question 10 “Are there general principles of evaluation?,” the concepts of no aesthetic principles and iron-clad principles are discussed by Alan H. Goldman and George Dickie. Finally, the moral and ethical aspects of art are examined in question 11 “What are the relations between the moral and aesthetic values of art?” by Eileen John and Daniel Jacobson, from different perspectives.
This book is a fantastic compilation of challenging questions related to art and aesthetics, with interesting essays and opinions by established professionals in the field. Each question comes with a References and Further Reading section. A timely and thought-provoking book for those involved in these issues in academia, business, and in the marketplace itself.