Journal | JoLMA
Monographic journal issue | 1 | 1 | 2020
Research Article | Aesthetic Cognitivism
Aesthetic Cognitivism
Abstract
Is beauty a feature of objects in the world; or a feature of our individual experience of objects; or the result of aesthetic education and training, modulated by social culture? I argue that aesthetic properties are like perceptual properties, understood as Constitutionalism explains them: as real features of objects in the world that fully manifest themselves only in causal interaction with suitable perceivers. I here develop Constitutionalism to provide a metaphysical account of aesthetic properties in terms of causal powers. Like perceptual properties, aesthetic properties are (multi-track and multi-stage) powers of objects that mutually manifest with relevant powers of the perceiver. On this basis, I argue that aesthetic judgements, like perceptual judgements, are apt for truth and falsity, and their truth value derives from the reliable experiences that produce them.
Submitted: March 23, 2020 | Accepted: April 1, 2020 | Published June 30, 2020 | Language: en
Keywords Perceptual properties • Aesthetic properties • Cognitivism • Constitutionalism • Reliabilism • Causal powers
Copyright © 2020 Anna Marmodoro. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Jolma//2020/01/004
