Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

PY2013 > Aesthetic Value > Flashcards

Aesthetic Value Flashcards

1
Q

What effect do disagreements about ‘less objective’ issues often have on us?

A

They matter more to us

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is meant by semantics here?

A

What do claims mean?

Can they be true/false?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is meant by psychology here?

A

What sort of mental state is involved in accepting moral & aesthetic beliefs
What role does this mental state play in actions/behaviour

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is meant by metaphysics here?

A

Is there moral/aesthetical reality?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is meant by epistemology here?

A

Is ethical/aesthetical knowledge obtainable?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are the key areas of enquiry for these issues?

A

Semantics
Psychology
Metaphysics
Epistemology

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

How are terms subjective?

A

When they are reporting what the subject feels (even if presented objectively)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is important to note about subjective claims?

A

We don’t disagree this way

You say how you feel and I say how I feel

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is important to remember about objective claims?

A

They do not need to be true to be objective

But generally easy to resolve and reasons can be given

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is a broad meaning of aesthetics?

A

Responses and experience of certain objects of perception

doesn’t necessarily have to be perceptible - eg maths equation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What characterises responses and experiences of an aesthetics nature?

A

Pleasurable responses in us

BUT
Not every pleasurable experience is an experience of beauty (eg food and sex)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is meant by beauty?

A

‘Aesthetic value’

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are some rules that provide evidence for beauty being objective?

A

The Golden Section

The Rule of Three

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Provide some alternatives explaining beauty

A
  • Evolutionary explanations (eg sex appeal in bodies = good genes)
  • Subconscious explanations (beauty = pleasure = satisfaction of sensuous appetite)
  • Ideological explanations (state invent values to control)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is taste?

A

The ability to discern beauty

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

See lecture 5 for differences between Hume and Kant

A

Yes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What would be general principles of aesthetic evaluation?

A

Would link objective properties (eg it is wooden) of objects to overall evaluations of these objects

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What are the three levels of property involved in art?

A
  1. Objective properties - descriptive properties
  2. Aesthetic properties - evaluative properties (eg it is vibrant)
  3. Overall evaluations
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What are the relationships between the levels of property involved in art?

A

Overall evaluations are based off of aesthetics properties, and aesthetic properties are based off of descriptive properties

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

How do we get from one property/level to another?

A

Need general principles that objective properties A and B => aesthetic properties
It therefore must always be the case that A and B => AE

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What are common I art criticism?

A
  • Verdict
  • Reason
  • The Norm
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is special about the Norm?

A

General principle, bringing level 2 and 3 together

Any work which has that quality is good

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Why might there be aesthetic principles?

A
  • Critics provide reasons for their judgements
  • Reasons are general: if same circumstances obtain in another situation, then the same reason applies
  • Critics appeal to objective properties to justify aesthetic principles that justify overall evaluation

It works so must be some (at least implicit) principles at work

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

See lecture 6 for objections to aesthetic principles

A

Yes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What is valence?

A

An inherent polarity, either negative or positive, that belongs to the concept of a property irrespective of its instantiation in any particular context

26
Q

What is an argument against valence and what is an alternative approach?

A

Polarity can be switched -> eg tension can be good and bad in a film, context is important

Therefore particularism

27
Q

Describe the view of Generalism

A

The reasons we give in aesthetic evaluations are general in nature
If artwork is good cos it has A, then A is a good-making property wherever it is found

28
Q

Describe the view of Particularim

A

There are no general reasons in aesthetic evaluations

A good artwork may have A, but does not mean A is always and everywhere a good-making property

29
Q

Describe realism

A

Aesthetic terms refer to properties the object has

30
Q

Describe what Anti-Realism might argue

A

Ae properties add a new layer to the world that doesn’t need to be there

31
Q

What is one possible objection to the relationship between objective principles and aesthetic ones? Give an example

A

Objective principles not necessarily sufficient for aesthetic principles/concepts
Just cos art possesses it, doesn’t mean it will result in aesthetic principles

eg Anyone can see something is colourful but not that its moving - need a certain perception to do so

32
Q

What is Levison’s take on aesthetic principles?

A

Properties are ways of being/appearing
eg might only be beautiful to humans, and even then in certain conditions

Therefore, condition dependence

33
Q

What is the fundamental basis for the rise in formalism?

A

People generally see representation in art (eg a dog) first before colour - content vs form

34
Q

What is Clive Bell’s extreme view on our perception of aesthetic properties?

A

Need only “a sense of form and colour and a knowledge of three-dimensional space”
No prior context/knowledge needed

35
Q

Describe the main opinion of Formalism

A

Recognises the primacy of formal qualities (eg line, colour, texture etc)

36
Q

List some features of Formalism

A
  • Egalitarian

- Emotional experience

37
Q

Describe how formalism is an egalitarian approach

A

Anyone can appreciate art, not just critics, no special ‘aesthetic faculty’ (taste)

38
Q

Describe what is meant, in formalism, of art provoking an emotional experience?

A

Emotional experience not found elsewhere in human experience (like Hume and morality)
The value of art has nothing to do with our ordinary everyday emotion (from life)

39
Q

What creates the aesthetic emotional experience of ‘calm ecstacy’ described by Bell?

A

Significant form

40
Q

Why would someone choose formalism?

A
  • Explains possible aesthetic interest in works with mundane content (eg Van Gogh)
  • Explains aesthetic interest in things conflicting with our beliefs (eg ‘Triumph of the Will’) - aka Extreme Autonomism
  • Unifies highly diverse aesthetic phenomena
41
Q

How does Clive believe formalism is unifying?

A

All different types of art are art because of their significant form

42
Q

What is the idea of Aesthetic Empiricism?

A

That the aesthetic value of a work is a matter of how it appears

43
Q

See 36min of Lecture 8 recording for each school’s unifying empiricist values

A

Yes

44
Q

What are the 4 main objections to formalism?

A
  1. Forgeries
  2. Ignores the aesthetic relevance (eg history)
  3. Too unifying: fails to recognise difference between art and nature
  4. More generally a fundamental misunderstanding of how perception works
45
Q

What would a formalist response likely be to the objection of forgeries?

A

Just snobbery, these aren’t aesthetic properties

but aren’t they? Refer to originality in an evaluative way

46
Q

Describe Enlightened Empiricism

A

Relevant non-aesthetic based properties include more than just colour and shape

Just formalism but with wider scope of consideration

47
Q

Outline the psychological thesis

A

How we experience it, what properties it has, depends on what category it is in (eg genres, styles etc)

48
Q

What is considered in Walton’s ‘categories of art’?

A
  • Standard features
  • Variable features
  • Contra-standard features
49
Q

Describe what is meant by standard features and give examples

A

Determine category membership - not aesthetically interesting
eg for paintings, flatness, motionless etc

50
Q

Describe what is meant by variable features and give examples

A

Properties differing across works in some category - highly aesthetically interesting
eg for paintings, colours and shapes

51
Q

Describe what is meant be contra-standard variables and give examples

A

Presence of these properties tend to disqualify it from that category
eg for paintings, moving-parts or 3-D

52
Q

How does Walton attempt to navigate around the psychological thesis objection of Guernicas?

A

The Normative thesis:

Can still perceive artwork in different ways, but not relative cos there is still a proper way to see it

53
Q

What is the main difference between our perception of art and nature?

A

We approach artworks as having meaning behind them (something hidden and unobvious - waiting to be discovered), not so much the case for nature, matter of form mostly

54
Q

What is ‘Option 1’ for principles of art and nature?

A
  • Art appreciation: Needs to be informed, EE
  • Nature appreciation: Formalism
    ^we lose theoretical unity but maybe this isn’t important, we just appreciate them differently
55
Q

What is ‘Option 2’ (Walton) for principles of art and nature?

A
  • Art appreciation: EE incl. Normative thesis

- Nature appreciation: EE without Normative thesis

56
Q

What is ‘Option 3’ (Alan Carlson) for principles of art and nature?

A
  • Art appreciation: EE incl. Normative thesis
  • Nature appreciation: EE incl. Normative thesis
    ^relevant contextual facts simply change from historical/social ones to scientific ones
57
Q

What is ‘Option 4’ (Nick Zangwell) for principles of art and nature?

A
  • Art appreciation: Both formal and contextual art properties
  • Nature appreciation: Both/only formal for organic and inorganic nature respectively
    ^Organic nature has purpose so needs to be considered differently to inorganic
58
Q

What is Option 4 aka?

A

Moderate formalism

59
Q

Who challenges the Normative thesis (of option 3 mostly) and how?

A

Nick Zangwell:

Don’t need to know anything to appreciate a sunset

60
Q

Outline a dialogue for the normative thesis in nature

A

+ Even in nature, no set category (eg Whales = cumbersome fish but elegant mammals)
- But normative doesn’t hold for nature, relativism for nature
+ Biological categories more well established than art categories

PY2013 (3 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions