Webinar: What if Disagreeing About Art is the Whole Point?

A common view is that aesthetic properties are non-inferential. That is: we cannot infer the existence of property based on the application of a rule. We must see for ourselves if some arrangement of lines and colors is, in fact, graceful. Why might aesthetic properties be like this? One answer might be that they are subjective properties. But we are still willing to give, exchange, and demand of each other reasons for our judgments about aesthetic properties. What kind of property could be non-inferential, but subject to reasons? I would like to present a new solution: that non-inferentialism about aesthetic properties is not a some mysterious metaphysical feature of aesthetic properties, but is rather a norm of a social practice. When we accept this rule, the activity of aesthetic appreciation goes better in a few ways. First, it drives the appreciator’s attention towards looking at particular details in a work, rather than looking for recurring statistical regularities or abstract principles. This prevents a purely scientific approach to aesthetic judgment, and drives the appreciator towards a detail-oriented perception of a work’s particularities. It drives conversants to continue to sensuously attend to works, rather than shifting to more abstract methods of inquiry such as the philosophical search for first principles, or the scientific study of aggregate regularities in perception. Second, it sculpts a particular kind of interaction: open-ended exchanges of reasons which motivate the conversants to return to attending to the work. This solution, however, depends on the view that the value of aesthetic appreciation, as an activity, is quite distinct from that of science: the goal is not the accumulation of true knowledge, but fostering engagement in a particular valuable human activity. I suggest, furthermore, that this value isn’t simply a matter of individual experience, but is best understood in terms of shaping a valuable social practice — a process of endless creative disagreement — that we must deeply value.

The Stapledon Colloquium Series features external speakers and members of the Liverpool department of Philosophy presenting current philosophical research. The seminars are free and open to members of the public.

The seminar takes place on Thursdays, 3-5pm at the School of the Arts Library, 19 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L7 7BD. In 2021-22, we will be presenting a mixture of online and in-person seminars.

Date and time

Thu, 16 December 2021 15:00 – 17:00 GMT

Read about Olaf Stapledon here.

For any organisational queries, contact Dr Vid Simoniti v.simoniti@liverpool.ac.uk

Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/what-if-disagreeing-about-art-is-the-whole-point-online-event-tickets-180019843197

Source: https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/philosophy/events/stapledon-colloquium-21-22/