Thomas Adajian (James Madison University): 'Pluralism, Beauty, Artistic Value: Questions'
Is F one or many? The question arises about many properties, not just truth, goodness, and logical consequence. In aesthetics and the philosophy of art, some extreme pluralistic answers have recently been defended. One prominent philosopher of art writes that “there are at least six fundamentally different properties of visual beauty… [visual] beauty has only a superficial unity….[visual] beauty is not one” (Levinson). Another holds that “there is no ‘substantive unity’ to the values realized by works in the different arts. Artistic value is a disjunction of the values that works have as members of specific art kinds” (Lopes). This paper raises questions for these pluralisms: about a range of comparative judgments, about explanatory power, and about methodology. Direct arguments for the views are also examined.
Aesthetics Seminar Convenors: Catharine Abell and David Collins
