Phil 1361 review

Aesthetic Properties

feeling or aesthetic high that one gets from looking at an artwork.

Formal/non-aesthetic

properties that say nothing of value of the work, usually recognized by sight.

Relativists

beauty and aesthetic properties are subjective and based upon the person viewing them.

Realists

beauty and aesthetic properties are objective and exist dependent from views and ideals

For objective accounts of beauty, what is the issue with disagreement?

For objectivists, if a disagreement exists, it shouldn’t. Due to beauty being objective everyone should have the exact same view on beauty.

Due to beauty being objective everyone should have the exact same view on beauty.Does this disprove the realist view

No, because the blame is put on the observer, therefore it does not disprove the realist view

What is an internal sense and how does it account for disagreement in whether something is beautiful?

The degree to which one can judge the beauty of art, if one has a greater internal sense of beauty, they’re view on the piece is clearer and more accurate than those without the same sense.

Sentiment

A feeling, it cannot be wrong.

Judgement

determination of understanding”, it can be wrong.

For Hume, what makes someone an ideal judge?

Someone who has a refined taste in art. Familiar with many pieces of work and can overcome their own prejudices.

Disinterestedness

not caring for the object’s existence, disconnected from any desire you might have.

When is disinterestedness called for?

When the need to form a purely aesthetic judgement is required.

What is supervenience

Upper-level properties are determined by lower-level properties. Aesthetic properties arise from non-aesthetic properties

How was the relationship used to understand aesthetic and non-aesthetic properties?

If non-aesthetic properties change, the aesthetic properties must also change.

What would I have to do to make an ugly painting beautiful?

You must change the non-aesthetic (colors, composition, texture) in a way that changes the aesthetic properties to change the beauty of the piece.

Suitable positioning

the positioning of the viewer affects their judgement (Physically or experientially).

How can suitable positioning explain some disagreements in the ascription of aesthetic properties?

Some might fail to see the beauty of the piece if they aren’t in the right positioning.

What is Sibley’s metaphysical claim

Aesthetic properties depend on, or supervene upon, non-aesthetic properties.

What is Sibley’s epistemological claim

What we can know about the aesthetic properties of a work. Recognizing aesthetic properties requires a special sensitivity or perceptual capacity, and it cannot come from pure logical or formal analysis of non-aesthetic properties

What are the categories of art?

Genres, styles, or forms of artwork. (Painting, sculpture, music)

How do categories of art relate to aesthetic properties?

Aesthetic properties are judged within the context of the categories

Standard properties

Determine category measurement (Words = literature)

Contra-standard properties

Traits that negate a category (No words = not literature)

Variable properties

Irrelevant traits to a category.

Intrinsic

Value that something has to itself, for it’s own sake (Painting is beautiful and valuable as such

Instrumental

a value that is a value has because it leads to something else of value (a painting might be valuable because it inspires reflection or cultural understanding.)

Artistic Practices

Techniques, traditions, and conventions used in the creation or evaluation of artworks.

Why should an ontology of art be grounded in artistic practices

In order to refer to a work, one must have a background ontological conception of what work is. You must be able to define what counts as art, and what does not.

What is the physical object hypothesis

Artworks are physical objects, unless they obviously are not

Why did tthe physical object hypothesis have trouble accounting for both works with multiple instances and certain singular works

The theory struggles to account for multiple copies of the same work due to each instance, being a different piece of art. The copies can be damaged, destroyed, or the original damaged, or destroyed. Therefore, changing the work as a whole.

Autographic

works that cannot be duplicated or replicated without losing their identity. (Original painting)

Allographic

works that can be duplicated without losing their identity. (Music, books, etc.)

What is a notation/notational system and how is it used for Goodman’s theory

The notation system is used to determine if a piece is the correct copy of the original work. It is used for Goodman’s theory to make a copy correctly. It is central to the theory to distinguish between autographic and allographic works.

What is an example of a notational system

Musical notion, morse code.

What is the type/token distinction

Conceptual way of organizing items and dictating a relationship between items.

Type

the form or kind of a work. (Beethoven’s symphony)

Token

Individual instances of that type. (The performance of the symphony)

How do we gain knowledge of a type

We must experience the token to gain knowledge about it

What is an example of the type/token distinction?

You can have a e-book (Token) and the actual book itself (Type)

What are norm-kinds?

The criteria that is required for a copy to classify as an instance of the work it is trying to duplicate.

How does this approach differ from identifying instances of a work solely by notation?

For notation, you must get everything exactly correct or the piece is different (Different note mistakenly played makes it a different song.) While Norm-kinds allow for errors in the piece.

What are heuristic paths and how are they used to differentiate works with the same structure?

Heuristic paths are the creative processes or methods used to produce an artwork. They differentiate between works because one may have the same structural features but differ in their creation process.

Indicated

Sound structures that are indicted, fixed, determined, or created specifically by their composer

Eternal

Concept or ideal that is independent of the instance.

How do Eternal and Indicated differ?

Eternal types cannot be created, only discovered. While indicated types can be created.

What are the consequences of holding the belief that abstract objects cannot be created and that artworks are created things?

Holding this belief results in the conclusion that artworks, like sonatas, are not abstract objects like types. They are concrete objects in some particular place or time. This leads to debates on whether artworks are types (Existing independently) or tokens (created instances).