Art, Artifacts, and Margolis’ Recovery of Objectivity

David Hildebrand - University of Colorado, Denver, U.S.A. - email

Abstract

Margolis aims for a ‘recovery of objectivity’. This may seem more suited to epistemologists or ethicists but Margolis saw reforming objectivity emerging from and contributing to his aesthetics and philosophy of art. My goal in this essay is to explain the connection of objectivity to aesthetics and then to offer some critical remarks which introduce an arguably richer version of objectivity, ‘pragmatic objectivity’. The introductory section explores Margolis’s motives for expanding aesthetics beyond its usual boundaries. Section 2 explores why artworks and selves are interdependent and artifactual, and how this prepares the ground for his recovery of objectivity. Section 3 considers Margolis’ more abstract, metaphysical context for objectivity, his modified relativism. At this point, Section 4 is able to lay out his revamped objectivity. Section 5 does the majority of this paper’s critical work: it explains why Margolis’ view might be considered a ‘pragmatic’ objectivity and advances some ways in which Margolis’ version might be filled in and extended. A brief conclusion identifies differences between the author’s and Margolis’ approach.

Open access | Peer reviewed

Submitted: Sept. 27, 2022 | Accepted: Nov. 25, 2022 | Published Dec. 20, 2022 | Language: en

Keywords Philosophy of art • Aesthetics • Objectivity • Relativism • Dewey • Pragmatism • Pragmatic objectivity • Margolis

Copyright © 2022 David Hildebrand. 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.

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DC Field	Value
dc.identifier	ECF_article_10645
dc.title	Art, Artifacts, and Margolis’ Recovery of Objectivity
dc.contributor.author	Hildebrand David
dc.publisher	Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Venice University Press, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari
dc.type	Research Article
dc.language.iso	en
dc.identifier.uri	http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/the-journal-for-the-philosophy-of-language-mind-an/2022/2/art-artifacts-and-margolis-recovery-of-objectivity/
dc.description.abstract	Margolis aims for a ‘recovery of objectivity’. This may seem more suited to epistemologists or ethicists but Margolis saw reforming objectivity emerging from and contributing to his aesthetics and philosophy of art. My goal in this essay is to explain the connection of objectivity to aesthetics and then to offer some critical remarks which introduce an arguably richer version of objectivity, ‘pragmatic objectivity’. The introductory section explores Margolis’s motives for expanding aesthetics beyond its usual boundaries. Section 2 explores why artworks and selves are interdependent and artifactual, and how this prepares the ground for his recovery of objectivity. Section 3 considers Margolis’ more abstract, metaphysical context for objectivity, his modified relativism. At this point, Section 4 is able to lay out his revamped objectivity. Section 5 does the majority of this paper’s critical work: it explains why Margolis’ view might be considered a ‘pragmatic’ objectivity and advances some ways in which Margolis’ version might be filled in and extended. A brief conclusion identifies differences between the author’s and Margolis’ approach.
dc.relation.ispartof	JoLMA
dc.relation.ispartof	Vol. 3 \| Issue 2 \| December 2022
dc.issued	2022-12-20
dc.dateAccepted	2022-11-25
dc.dateSubmitted	2022-09-27
dc.identifier.issn
dc.identifier.eissn	2723-9640
dc.rights	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.identifier.doi	10.30687/Jolma/2723-9640/2022/02/010
dc.peer-review	yes
dc.subject	Aesthetics
dc.subject	Dewey
dc.subject	Margolis
dc.subject	Objectivity
dc.subject	Philosophy of art
dc.subject	Pragmatic objectivity
dc.subject	Pragmatism
dc.subject	Relativism
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