Analytic aesthetics has had little to say about academic schools of criticism, such as Freudian, Marxist, feminist, or postcolonial perspectives. Historicists typically view their interpretations as anachronistic; non-historicists assess all interpretations according to formalist criteria. Insofar as these strategies treat these interpretations as on a par, however, they are inadequate. For the theories that ground the interpretations differ in the claims they make about the world. I argue that the interpretations of different critical schools can be evaluated according to the (...) truth or epistemic merit of these claims. (shrink)

Advancing a claim about the quality of a work of art is critical thinking applied in a particular arena and applies the same rules that advancing a claim about anything follows. Described this way, advancing an art evaluative claim is no different from advancing any claim. On the other hand, advancing claims in differing arenas frequently follow different methodologies. Art criticism, thought of in this way—as a species of critical thinking focused on advancing claims about the quality of works of (...) art—has its own methodology. This paper describes two versions of that methodology, one that is object-focused (or event-focused) and one that is subject-focused. (shrink)

Once a group of physicists at my university invited me to a physics colloquium. They were certain that I would get a great deal out of it. I love theoretical physics, although my preparation for understanding the "real stuff" is extremely modest. After the first ten minutes of the lecture, I realized I was in way over my head; though I understood the topic and the trajectory, I was not able to follow the path. But I stayed and continued to (...) enjoy the lecture. No longer was I understanding the lecture as a physics lecture—that is, as a lecture the contents of which was the articulation of a case for understanding a physical phenomenon or the application of a physical theory for understanding a physical phenomenon.... (shrink)

This paper considers the way that disposal of art—that is, removing it from one’s ownership or guardianship—might rightly be pursued. It is also about what appropriate disposal of art may mean for theories of the value of art. Students of art and aesthetics benefit from such tests as they determine which of the various theories of artistic value have lasting merit. Disposing of art is a particularly good test for educating theory choice as it is pragmatic; it is the equivalent (...) of determining the quality of a theory of normative ethics by looking at its practical implications. (shrink)

From the perspective of art education, the worst-case philosophical scenario is the hedonist-subjectivist account of art. If we measure art by the pleasure we gain from it, it may seem senseless to attempt teaching the reception of art. David Hume's ‘Of the Standard of Taste’ provides an argument for the art-education enthusiast, explaining that—even on a subjectivist account—art education crystallises our own preferences. While I refer to a historical debate and provide a close reading of an 18th-century essay, my goal (...) is to offer a philosophical solution to an ongoing dilemma; I use Hume's essay to ground the justification of art education. (shrink)

This article identifies three distinct temporal notions in Hume’s aesthetics: passing the test of time, repeated viewing of a work, and the personal aging of the critic. It applies these ideas to the evaluation and enjoyment of films. It characterizes positive, negative, and ambivalent film aging, which are associated with nostalgia, boredom, and comic amusement, respectively, and which bear on our enjoyment, not evaluation, of film. The paper discusses Allen’s Zelig, Antonioni’s La Notte, Cameron’s The Terminator, Lucas’s Star Wars, Scorsese’s (...) Taxi Driver, Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, and Renoir’s La Règle du Jeu. (shrink)